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The Pandora Arts Collective
By Nicole Zummach
June 30, 2008
VICTORIA, BC // For some people, art is superfluous, a luxury even. Nice, but not necessary. Others would argue that it is an intrinsic part of who we are as a species, informing how we see and experience the world. For Pam Oliver and her friends and colleagues at the Pandora Arts Collective, it is much more than that; it is a lifeline, a connection to community, and a means to take charge of one's own mental health.
CharityVillage spoke with Oliver about Pandora's roots, the therapeutic benefits of creating art, and the courageous group of artists who are finding independence and peace through their artwork and their relationships with each other.
CharityVillage: How did the Pandora Arts Collective get started?

Pam Oliver: The program was originally funded through the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). They funded the Vancouver Island School of Art Therapy and the school ran a program called the Pandora Arts Studio and Gallery, which was located on Pandora Avenue. So that's how the name started. I was in the program and attended for two years. I did try to get art therapy; I knew that I needed it. I was quite familiar with it as a therapy but there weren't any free programs. It was only done by private art therapists...hundreds of dollars for a course, but very effective.
I had tried to get into the art therapy program at the Eric Martin Pavilion, where mental health issues are addressed, but I was considered too highly functioning. No one knew what was wrong with me at the time and, of course, they still don't agree. They suggested this drop-in art program [Pandora], so I went to that for two years. It pulled me - it pulled a lot of us - out of our depressions and gave us a place to do our work together.
Then it was shut down without any warning. We came one day to a letter on the door saying the program was closed and we were all evicted due to funding cuts. Just after [the program] closed - I'll never forget it - there were five of us that knew we were in big trouble without it. We were devastated. At the time I didn't understand it, but what I realize now is that we lost our only connection to each other and to a group, and to the community. We were a family.
CV: So, how did you cope with the closure?

PO: I knew that I was in a lot of trouble with my depression if I didn't stay connected somehow. So I said to the group, "Let's run it ourselves. How hard can it be?" We did art at my house for about eight months while we kept the faith. All we knew was that we needed to stay together. Then a place called Laurel House took us in for a couple of months. (They were also closed down by VIHA this past winter after 30 years.) After a few months at Laurel House we found an empty hall at the Fernwood Community Association and we've been there for three years. Today, we have close to 25 members and on any given day we'll usually get 12-18 people coming in. That's up from six to eight people at this time last year.
CV: Tell me more about art as therapy.

PO: Art as therapy - different than art therapy - is very normalizing. We get together and we bring our own art projects, so it's not a classroom. We don't have an art teacher. What we do is work on our art together. We put group shows on together. It's very stabilizing. It confirms friendship, it builds understanding. Art as therapy is very balancing.
Our group is what I would call in-betweeners. We tend to have housing, even though most of us are in assisted housing. We have our basic needs met and we are looking for something that nurtures. That's why the art is important. It's not enough to give people housing and food. It's not enough to just survive because that, in so many cases, leads to suicide or leads to people not getting well. The biggest thing that our process does is to connect us back to ourselves, to each other, and to the community.
We've averted suicide. We know that our program participants are in hospital less than they were before coming to us. We've also reduced the need for emergency services. We provide a place for people who can't get connected to the system but who are desperately ill, like myself. We provide very affordable support to long-term therapeutic needs.
CV: You have a quote on your website, "That which creates itself cannot be destroyed." How does that apply to Pandora?

PO: When we say that that which creates itself cannot be destroyed, our grief was replaced with anger and determination. In fact, that closure [of the original program] was the best thing that ever happened to us. We thought, "We are never again going to be told when we can do our art." In the old program you had to get a referral and you were only allowed to stay for a few months. We never again want anyone to have any control over us. Period.
And we decided to stick with the name Pandora because she let chaos out of the box; that speaks to us. She was left with a beautiful box but was told not to open it. In our group, we were all born with beautiful minds that we opened unknowingly, and which life opened for us. But the gods took pity on Pandora and left hope inside the box. Hope is what our program rebuilds.
CV: Looking to the future, what's next for Pandora?

PO: First, we want to get our charitable status. We will find a way to support mental health. We will continue to provide a safe and affordable and welcoming art space. We want to remove all barriers to participation that people think they have. I would like to have an outreach program, where you could go to someone's house and sit on their front step and sketch a picture with them. If they are homeless, go and sit in their car and paint or sketch...go to them. Our absolute vision is to foster independence and self-respect, to give back hope. I'd like to continue to promote the aspect that we are a respite from stress, that we are an island.
I asked my sons, "What do you think the Pandora studio does for me - your mom?" And my son said, "Mom, the Pandora place - that's what he calls it - is like ice cream for you."
Pam Oliver is a founding member of the Pandora Arts Collective Society and currently serves as its program manager. For more information about PACS, visit: members.shaw.ca/arts_pacs/.
Would you like to see your organization in the Spotlight? E-mail Nicole at editor@charityvillage.com with your suggestions.