THE SOCIAL MYSTICS at The Tranzac Club (292 Brunswick), Tuesday (May 8), 7 pm. PWYC (suggested $10). tranzac.org, Creative Works Studio.
The walls inside Creative Works Studio are covered with vibrant, colourful paintings. Clay sculptures and pottery are spread across the tables, and off to one side of the room, a man strums an acoustic guitar as a small group gathers. It’s almost 3 pm on Wednesday, which means it’s nearly time for rehearsal.
Founded in 1997, Creative Works is an art-based occupational therapy program for people living with mental illness and addiction. When songwriting was added to the Studio’s offerings in 2007, the band The Social Mystics was born, developing a catchy, hymn-like folk sound. This Tuesday (March 8), the eight members will celebrate their first album, Coming Out Of Darkness.
The title is telling.
“When I’m doing the music, I’m never sick,” says band member Courtney Marshall, who has bipolar disorder and depression. “I’m right there, doing my job as an artist. It’s just what I wanna do.”
Some members of the band are diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Others battle anxiety or addiction. They find common ground in the studio.
“It’s like being with your own cultural group. There’s things not said that you just understand about each other – a look is understood,” says Suzanne Gorenflo, who has PTSD and anxiety. She joined the group about six years ago. “The stigma towards mental illness… with the group, there’s none of that. It’s just completely relaxing.”
In addition to songwriting, the studio offers workshops in painting, pottery, clay sculpture, screen printing and digital photography. Art supplies are provided.
“People started gravitating to this little corner of the studio every Wednesday afternoon where we’d write songs,” says Creative Works founder, artist and occupational therapist Isabel Fryszberg. “We’d joke around and say, ‘This is like the social misfits.’ And then we said, ‘No, we’re not misfits, we’re social mystics!’”
She founded the institution in response to government cuts to mental health programs. Their partner, the Good Shepherd, also provides 25 units of supportive housing on the upper floors of the building. The studio is part of the Inner City Health Program at St. Michael’s. She’s hoping to expand to more satellite locations, too – there’s up to a one-year waiting list to take advantage of the unique programming. Just don’t call it art therapy.
“It’s not art therapy, I call it art-based occupational therapy because the art becomes their occupation,” Fryszberg says. “They’re no longer a patient. They become active artists.”
On Tuesday, The Social Mystics will showcase material from their 13-track album, selected from their more than 50-song repertoire, which they recorded and made with funding from the Ontario Arts Council and J.P. Bickell Foundation.
For Courtney Marshall, the CD release will be fun, but it’s just the beginning.
“My plan is I’m not going to open the CD until I get to Montreal [to see] my daughter. We’re going to drive around and I’m going to put it on and tell her the story about every song,” he says. “How often do you get a chance to do that?”
But that’s for later. Now, as the clock strikes 3 pm, The Social Mystics have a show to prepare for.
Learn more about The Social Mystics here.
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