Mélanie Dal Gobbo:"We are going to give the opportunity to stimulate one's brain through Art"

Mélanie Dal Gobbo is the co-founder of the Art For Science non-profit organization, who is organizing in partnership with FOCUS and the CCISM, a large conference and exhibition on Art and the brain on Saturday April 15th. She has given us a few pieces of information about this unprecedented event and on the forthcoming projects of the organization.

Mélanie Dal Gobbo, co-fondatrice d'Art For Science © Capture Corp

What is the objective of the conference and exhibition on April 15th?

The event is aiming to convey to everyone information about the incredible functioning of the brain. Our brain has this cerebral plasticity which makes us evolve and adjust every day. The second message we want to convey is that art will help stimulate our brain and thus preserve our health, accelerate healing if we get sick, and help us get rid of an addiction or a fear. The brain and art as a tool form a combination that allows us to face our own problems. With these conferences open to all, we want to create this double stimulus so that people can look at art and their brain differently.

Together with the conference, local artists, who are Art For Science members, are exhibiting. Why is this an important part of the event?

Art For Science is passing on a lot of information through conferences, but the idea of the exhibition part is to use art to convey messages other than with words. The exhibiting artists have been in contact with some of the best neuro scientists in the world who are part of the Art For Science family, and they will convey messages through their artistic practices. It's a way of reaching the audience in a different way. We also offer everyone the opportunity to stimulate their brain, because contemplating a work of art creates thousands of neuronal connections at the same time from the moment we look at it for at least 3 seconds.

The exhibition is also a fund raiser for scientific research…

Correct. On the sale of an artwork, 30% will go to the artist, 35% to research and 35% will be used for Art For Science programs.

Your messages are also directed to more specialized people like healthcare workers, education staff members as well as non-profit organizations. What kind of actions are you going to offer?

We will organize 4 masterclasses open to different audiences, hosted by Art For Science and Isabelle Waschmuth from the World Health Organization. On Monday April 17th, the first masterclass at 10 am will be dedicated to actors of the territory who are willing to fight against poverty. On Tuesday April 18th, we will have a masterclass on education at 6:30 pm and a masterclass on health at 7:30 pm. Finally, on Wednesday April 19th at 2 pm, we will host a masterclass on addictions.

How do you finance your actions?

Thanks to patrons and donors. Moreover, two masterclasses are organized on April 17th and 19th for the region’s economic actors who wish to study the possibility of taking action through the financing of Art For Science to develop beneficial initiatives to the population.

What are your forthcoming projects on the island?

We have two priorities in Saint Martin for the first semester of 2023. The next step is to bring art at the foot of sick patients’ beds. We are currently setting up the Art For Science Care program at the hospital and at the retirement home. It means creating an artworks library in these institutions with the Art For Science pedagogy. It is important to explain to patients and elderly people the effects of art on their pathologies or their issues. We would like to offer an enlightening and enlightened approach, and not just art for art. The second step is Art For Science Kids and Art For Science Young. We are currently working on creating partnerships for the month of September with schools, academic support organizations and others who are helping children or young people, on issues like growing well or school dropout. Making partnerships represent the way we work and our drive. We are inviting non-profit organizations and economic actors to get in touch with us in order to work together in an economic, social and educational organization.

Conference-exhibition Art & Brain

Saturday May 15th, 1pm-5pm

CCISM, Concordia

Free, mandatory registration on: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/art-for-science/evenements/conference-sante-et-education-du-futur-art-cerveau-15-avril-2023-a-saint-martin

English-speaking interpreter on site

Press conference registration

INFOS & REGISTRATION MASTERCLASS

Poverty masterclass April 17th

Patrons masterclass April 17th

Patrons masterclass April 19th

Education masterclass April 18th

Health masterclass April 18th