Artist and author Leef Evans: “I have to tell people”
Leef Evans, an author and artist, experienced a severe bout of depression six years ago that resulted in hospitalization and the loss of apartment, car, and virtually all connection with family and friends.
While living on Vancouver’s downtown eastside, Lee participated in an art program at Coast Mental Health Resource Centre and he is now a part of the Gallery Gachet collective.
He recently told Westender magazine that he has been forced, through his painting, to deal with his lifelong struggle with depression.
We speak with Leef Evans. (Image: “self portrait 3 a.m.” by Leef Evans)
Academic and advocate Austin Mardon: “I live a very simple life”
Austin Mardon was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1992. A researcher, author, and academic with degrees in geography and education, he was among a group of researchers who explored Antarctica.
Austin took a permanent detour from the academic course of his life into a life of service and advocacy for a group that he says is mostly ‘despised and feared’ in mainstream society.
Austin Mardon was awarded the Order of Canada in 2007 for his advocacy work on behalf of people with schizophrenia.
We speak with Austin Mardon. (Image: Austin Mardon)
Activist and theatre director Ruth Ruth Stackhouse: “We’re pushing out of the medical model”
Ruth Ruth Stackhouse is a theatre director and abilities community activist. She works with psychiatric survivors and people with disabilities, and is committed to improving the lives of others through their inclusion and participation in artistic practice.
Ruth Ruth is an organizer of the annual Mad Pride events in Toronto, including the Bed Push. “We dress a gurney up like a bed and the sheets have words of empowerment like hope, faith, education on it,” she told the Toronto Community News.
We speak with Ruth Ruth Stackhouse. (Image: Ruth Ruth Stackhouse and fellow organizer Richard MacDonald, at the 2007 Mad Pride Parade)
Author and lecturer Charles Barber: “A newer generation”
Charles Barber was educated at Harvard and Columbia and worked for ten years in New York City shelters for the homeless mentally ill. His recent book Comfortably Numb, was released in 2008 to national media attention.
Charles has written frankly about his own childhood experiences with obsessive compulsive disorder in his book, Songs From the Black Chair. He is currently a senior executive at The Connection, an innovative social services agency, and a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine.
We speak with Charles Barber. (Image: Charles Barber)
