The American Psychoanalytic Association has decided to establish a Committee for Arts and Psychoanalysis. I have been asked to chair the group.
The committee's mission will be:
To promote outreach through interdisciplinary work in the arts and psychoanalysis.
To create a cadre of professionals who can publicize the value of a psychoanalytic approach in the arts by identifying and creating teams of analysts/arts professionals in each field: music, visual art, performance/drama, film, and literature.
The initial goals for these teams will be to identify current and forthcoming events about which conferences and symposia could be organized. Additionally, the teams might contact university departments to arrange for a variety of other interdisciplinary activities and to promote teaching that includes a psychoanalytic perspective. The teams will be invited to set other goals according to their expertise and positions in academia and the art world. The committee will put together a speaker's bureau prepared to participate in museum exhibitions, lecture series, and other public events.
The committee, which will be under the Division on Societal Issues, was the brainstorm of Kerry Sulkowicz, who initiated the proposal. It has already generated considerable enthusiasm within the organization.
The membership of the committee thus far includes: Leon Balter, Frank Baudry, Hillary Beattie, Harold Blum, Vera Camden, Bradley Collins, Stuart Feder, Phillip Freeman, Bill Jeffrey, Esther Dreifuss-Kattan, Donald Kuspit, Janice Lieberman, Peter Loewenberg, Rose Carol Washton Long, Humphrey Morris, Julie Nagel, Louis Nagel, Martin Nass, Nancy Olson, Lois Oppenheim, Gilbert Rose, Alina Rubenstein, Fred Sander, Paul Schwaber, Nellie Thomson, and Joann Turo.
There are undoubtedly many more APA members with a strong interest in the arts. I am hoping that they will want to participate in this broad effort that can simultaneously serve as outreach and ongoing development in interdisciplinary work.
To be effective, we shall need both psychoanalysts and individuals from the arts and academia. I expect to begin with a small working group but expand as time goes on. Please contact me if you or anyone you know might be willing to be part of this activity, .
Laurie Wilson, Ph.D., earned her art history doctorate from CUNY. Trained at NYU Psychoanalytic Institute, she is faculty member and clinical associate professor of psychiatry, NYU Medical Center. She practices in New York City. Her recent book is Alberto Giacometti: Myth, Magic and the Man.