Since Playgrounds was founded one of the topics that was talked about in talks, interviews and panels was mental health and dealing with the pressure of being a creative in a highly competitive industry. At The Art Department | World Tour we once again dive into this topic because we feel it is super important to really open up about this issue and address this from different angles.
Joining us in the conversation is our host and creative consultant Spiridon Giannakis. This German based art book publisher found his way into the industry with a magazine, panel discussions, and his appearance of numerous festivals where he again and again rose awareness about work-life balance and the way the industry was shaped.
Also tuning in is Stephanie Hayot, Business Development Manager at ArtStation. We invited Stephanie to join the conversation because she works with numerous artists, of course is tied to the biggest portfolio platform for concept art and in this role sees how artists are dealing with the work pressure and social media pressure. We’ve had the pleasure to have her on stage in 2019 in a Firestarter panel with this topic and it was a delight to hear her take on this subject.
Third participant in the conversation is psychologist and coach Michelle White. Michelle has a passion for enabling individuals and organizations to develop the meaningful and resilient approaches which underpin positive and sustainable change, growth and leadership. She has worked with individuals wishing to make changes, develop themselves further or overcome a challenge to organizations within the arts, education, charitable and corporate sectors, such as Google, Youtube, BAFTA, BFI.
Host of this panel is Playgrounds director and curator Leon van Rooij.
Next to the way the creative industry deals with plannings and deadlines, a new factor came into the mix last year: a worldwide pandemic. This internationally thriving industry also addressed this worldwide crisis and studios and companies thought of different ways to support their artists.
In this panel we want to focus on the good vibes and ways to thrive in these difficult times and not just survive.