Online Zoom Forum: Joyce Laing: The Spiritual, Art Therapeutic and Humanitarian Vision in Her Life and Work.
Date: Wednesday 9 April 2025.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be four talks, each of 15 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Professor Fergus McNeill:
Bio: Fergus McNeill is Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow where he works in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.
Prior to becoming an academic in 1998, Fergus worked for a decade in residential drug rehabilitation and as a criminal justice social worker. Since then, his teaching and his many research projects and publications have examined institutions, cultures and practices of punishment, rehabilitation and reintegration. In 2021, his book ‘Pervasive Punishment: Making sense of mass supervision’ was awarded the European Society of Criminology's Book Prize.
Fergus’s engagement with creative methods of research over the last decade or so has also had the unanticipated effect of enabling him to become an award-winning singer-songwriter.
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Speakers:
Dr Cheryl McGeachan:
Title: Joyce Laing's work related to the Art Extraordinary Collection and its Legacies.
Description: Cheryl McGeachan will speak to Joyce Laing's work related to the Art Extraordinary collection and its legacies.
Bio: I am an historical and social geographer interested in researching the lived experiences of mental ill-health and distress in historical and contemporary contexts. My work is grounded in uncovering worldly encounters with people, place and objects and I have worked with numerous archives, collections and community partners to develop stories of mental ill-health that are often overlooked and ignored.
Mental (ill)health, outsider art and asylum spaces:
I am driven by a desire to understand the worldly configurations and experiences of mental ill-health in a range of contexts.
Current research includes working in partnership with Glasgow Museums on the Art Extraordinary Collection, a unique collection of Scottish 'outsider art', to create new stories of mental ill-health and creativity. Working in collaboration with Leverndale Recreational Therapy Department, Barlinnie Prison, Project Ability and Gartnavel Hospital we have developed a range of community curated exhibitions and resources. In collaboration we have developed Glasgow Museums first ever fine art Handling Kit and a permanent exhibition for Kelvingrove Museum. Key to this project is to generate further understanding of the lived experiences of mental ill-health and the power of creativity to expose lived worlds.
I have written extensively on asylum worlds, using various biographical tools to track the traces of lives lived and lost in such places. In doing so I draw attention to the importance of humanising the histories and geographies of asylums through the 'voices' and experiences of those who inhabited these spaces.
Mike Inglis:
Title: Joyce and Angus.
Description: Exploring the discovery and relationship between Joyce Lang and Angus PcPhee the Hebridean Outsider Artist who was the most favorite of all her Artists in her collection.
Bio: My practice is in a very experimental period and my responses are constantly evolving as the work continues to develop. I am very interested in examining and scrutinizing ideas that surround superstitions and belief systems in a wide variety of contexts. Sometimes my work can be seen in galleries and at other times is seen in the context of the Natural or Urban environment. I enjoy exploring and developing ideas and processes that question the links between Outsider Art, Contemporary Art and Environmental Art.
Most recently I was on residency in Sweden where I created two projects, one (DRIFT) a floating installation examining grief; one a collaboration with a small mental health art studio where we created an environmental river trail of painted tree houses in a variety of imaginative styles. (WEARE THE BIRDS).
I currently teach part time with Edinburgh College of Art.
Dr Sara Trevelyan:
Title: Joyce Laing: The Role of the Arts in the Special Unit.
Description: Pioneering art therapist Joyce Laing was involved in transforming the lives of prisoners in the Barlinnie Special Unit in Glasgow. It will be my honour in this short presentation to share a little about her time there which produced such an outpouring of significant work from many different individuals. The story I know most closely is that of my former husband Jimmy Boyle – her introducing him to sculpture in the 70s opened the floodgates to his creativity. This helped his rehabilitation and forged a path for him which went beyond the prison walls, allowed him to become an internationally recognised artist and opened many doors. She made it safe for prisoners to transform their former violence by expressing their innermost thoughts and emotions through art.
Bio: I became involved in the Barlinnie Special Unit (BSU) when I was a junior hospital doctor working in Gartnavel Hospital. Prior to that I had been part of a community psychiatric team at Dingleton Hospital, which pioneered the therapeutic community approach in the Scottish Borders. I met Jimmy Boyle through this connection and a relationship which began when he was in the Special Unit. We married in 1980.
More recently I have been involved as part of an editorial team producing a book to remember the BSU at the time of its 50th anniversary: “The Barlinnie Special Unit – Art, Punishment and Innovation”. Published by Waterside Press last year.
I had the pleasure of visiting Joyce Laing in her home in Pittenweem shortly before her death in 2022. She was sprightly as ever, as we met and she shared some of her memories over tea and cakes. On a second visit I went with Claire Coia who has shared some of the conversation with this remarkable pioneer in the book.
I wrote a memoir about my early experience of meeting and marrying Jimmy – called Freedom Found – it was published by Scotland Street Press in 2017.
These days I continue my work part time as a therapist, and am also a mother and grandmother.
Jean Duncan:
Title: Joyce Laing and Pittenweem Arts Festival.
Description: From her home in the coastal village of 1980s Pittenweem, Fife, this is a brief account of how Joyce Laing's ideas inspired a festival that became one of Scotland’s largest celebrations of visual arts. And how I became involved.
Bio:
A Diploma in Primary School teaching with arts subjects for personal development.
Several years with Garvald Edinburgh teaching weaving, education and communication with special needs young adults.
Six years in Eire working and exhibiting as a weaver and knitwear designer.
Established and managed Garvald’s craft shop in Edinburgh.
1995 Moved to Cellardyke.
2004 -2019 Established The Coach House Pittenweem, craft gallery.
2008-2023 Chair Pittenweem Arts Festival.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
NB: you must also email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can send you the Zoom sign-in details.
Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
Some international transfers also ask for an IBAN number:
The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168