Calmness, community, and camaderie: PopArt McGill is supporting all three in the name of mental health on campus. Soraiya Salemohamed, Attiya Hirji and Gillian Shelley, the founders of PopArt McGill, share with us their philosophies and inspirations that drove them to establish their club. We learn that behind every beautifully intricate creation that is coloured in during their sessions (schedule and venues posted here) is a story as complicated as any mandala.
Cleona Tsang for Her Campus McGill (HC McGill): Tell us about the founders, and what inspired you to start PopArt!
PopArt McGill (PM): PopArt McGill brings an innovative, creative solution to improving mental health on campus. Born from a group project in the course MGPO 438 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation to increase happiness at McGill, we noticed a need for inclusive creative outlets on campus. If we could develop art projects that were easy to access both physically and creatively, we hoped that students and faculty would de-stress and be happier.
The acting founders of PopArt McGill are Soraiya Salemohamed and Attiya Hirji, graduates with degrees in International Development, and Gillian Shelley–Psychology major, who has taken responsibility for running PopArt on campus.
As any collectively-focused solution should be, we aren’t working alone. PopArt’s success is due to the incredibly generous support and autonomy given to us by Student Life and Engagement and the Brown Building. We’re so fortunate that we have staff valuing new approaches for mental health as much as us and are willing and excited to help our project. We are also combining efforts with McGill Spaces Project, a wonderful group of students seeking to transform McGill’s community spaces.
HC McGill: How would you address the claims that coloring-in is a form of art therapy? Are these claims justified?
PM: Any activity in which the mind is fully-focused on a creative task has therapeutic effects. There’s a reason that adult coloring books have become so popular in the main-stream, and it’s why we chose to make coloring-in the core activity in our inaugural project.
The premise of PopArt McGill is that we all have an inner child-like artist that is a worthy adversary for even our loudest inner critic. Most people know this inner critic well; it’s that voice that tells us that in some way we’re not good enough, that we don’t belong. The inner critic is fed by expectations that perpetuate feelings of isolation, loneliness, failure, and desperation. The inner child, on the other hand, is the voice that says tell us we are enough and we belong. The inner-child thrives on experiences of play, relaxation, and psychological states of flow. When we engage in these experiences more often, especially with others doing the same activity, we cultivate connection, feelings of belonging, and happiness. That’s what coloring-in does.
Ever seen a child so proud of an artwork they did even though it takes them five minutes to explain what the blobs and lines are? And you put it on the fridge anyways. When did we start stopping ourselves from being proud of our creativity simply because other people are “better”? Everyone deserves to create art, and coloring-in provides a simple way for people to feel proud about their creativity, no matter how “good” their mandala is.
That’s definitely therapeutic.
HC McGill: Where and when can people find you and engage in this beautiful activity with PopArt?
This semester, PopArt’s event: No Brainer, will be in the Brown Building lobby for the remainder of the Fall semester and Service Point waiting room. We’re working on making arrangements to setup in other high-traffic areas on campus as well. To stay up-to-date on where PopArt will be held on any given day, like us on Facebook.
HC McGill: I hear you might be setting up a permanent installation of your mandalas! Tell us about that.
PM: At the end of the semester, all of the mandalas will be collected and displayed in an art installation in the Brown Student Services Building! Everyone who completed a mandala can see theirs and the others, instilling a sense of pride in themselves and the diversity of the community. The more completed mandalas, the bigger the installation :)
HC McGill: Why mandalas? What else can the McGill community expect in the future?
It is thought that the circular pattern of mandalas particularly promote calmness.
PM: Here is an in-depth article outlining Jung’s association with mandalas and the psyche.
Part of the premise of PopArt McGill is the spontaneous nature in which the opportunities arise so the details of future projects are in the works and not yet able to be disclosed. However, the McGill community can expect future events to be fun, inclusive, and to meet the goals of PopArt. We’d love to hear your ideas if you believe you have a community art project in mind!
HC McGill: What are some art/decorative supplies people can expect to decorate with at PopArt?
PM: For No Brainer, we have markers, crayons, pencils, and GLITTER GLUE! Which causes some mess, yes, but it’s worth it for the glitter. In the future, we will be incorporating other innovative and creative mediums. Maybe 3-D? We’ll see!
HC McGill: Share with us the feedback you have received so far from the McGill community!
PM: Everyone loves it. People have shared that they feel as if they were in grade school making art again. They feel freer. They feel relaxed. Much laughter is shared. While drawing, people discuss their take on mental health awareness and tools at McGill, their own strategies for happiness, and connect over ideas about what they’d like to change about how our society perpetuates negative feelings of loneliness.
Many people, when starting, express doubts about their abilities, “I’m not an artist”, “I can’t draw”, “I don’t know which colors to use” etc. But after they start, many fall silent and just colour. One woman said that she forgot entirely that she didn’t know what she was doing and just chose colors on an impulse. When she finished, she was so surprised and impressed by her work that she stayed and made another.
What we didn’t anticipate was the level of support that occurs at the No Brainer table. Everyone sounds like a proud parent encouraging each others’ creativity and praising others’ artistic choices. People are vulnerable about their fears towards creating art, which is echoed in others around the table and thus that fear is overcome by the realization that we’re all feeling the same. We all doubt our abilities, even the experts. There’s a sense of camaraderie that you would be pressed to find in other environments on campus.
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