Creative Drop-In Spaces: Prairie Harm Reduction

In December 2022, Common Weal forged new partnerships in Saskatoon with St. Paul’s Hospital, Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), and Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP) to develop and launch the Creative Art Drop-In Sessions program: a casual, bi-weekly art program taking place in the Prairie Harm Reduction drop-in centre in Saskatoon.

With the help of our two contracted lead artists, Terri Belisle and Candice Grosenick, we brought a wagon of art supplies from St. Paul’s Hospital to the PHR drop-in centre, where we provided creative mentorship to people accessing other services at the drop-in centre. Marlessa Wesolowski, the resident artist at St. Paul’s Hospital, provided valuable mentorship and support throughout the program. These sessions fostered creativity in various artistic disciplines like poetry, creative writing, beading, crafting, drawing, and painting.

The Creative Art Drop-In Sessions began in February 2023 and concluded in June 2023. We are thankful for the support of our partners in this program as we continue to explore the possibilities of using art as a harm reduction tool for health and healing in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods. As we reflect on the impact of this pilot program, we are curious about the ways that we can collaborate with other organizations to bring Creative Art Drop-In Sessions to other communities in Saskatoon and beyond.

This program was funded using individual monthly donations from Common Weal Champions: community members from across Saskatchewan.