Shelley Hannigan

My undergraduate degree was primarily in painting and film subjects. From there, in my early twenties, I worked in the film industry and as a proof reader for the New Zealand Herald. I then travelled for years to indulge in my own artistic practice and began teaching part time. I came to Melbourne to study a Masters degree in Creative arts therapies with a view of bringing some of these ideas and methodologies into my own teaching approaches - working in hospitals for three years as a creative arts therapist confirmed a need to prevent mental health problems developing in yourng people using the arts. My community arts work has been one way to do this and this work has included community arts in schools and in Geelong communities where I live. I have been teaching and researching at Deakin University for 12 years now and love the opportunities it offers for continuing to teach and research with schools, communities and in interdisciplinary ways.