NIGAT holds an Art Therapy Summer School each year. Like NIGAT itself, this event is inclusive and welcoming to members and non-members, to art therapists, students, and a wide range of others. It attracts people from all walks of life, welcoming anyone who is interested in art therapy, creativity, and wider uses of the art process for health and personal development. The atmosphere is warm, friendly and creative! All are welcome.
Future Art Therapy Summer Schools
2027 Art Therapy Summer School
NIGAT’s 34th Art Therapy Summer School
Details will be announced in due course.
The Art Therapy Summer School is aimed at anyone (aged 18+) interested in art therapy and wider uses of the art process for health and personal development. All are welcome.
Past attendees have included NIGAT members and non-members – people from many professions and other fields,
e.g.: art therapists, counsellors, teachers, social workers, nurses, artists, OTs, physiotherapists, doctors, youth workers, psychotherapists, music therapists, dramatherapists, play therapists, care workers, those seeking personal development, and people from all walks of life.
Past Therapy Summer Schools
2026 Art Therapy Summer School
NIGAT’s 33rd Art Therapy Summer School:
** All attendees rated this event as “Excellent” **
NIGAT held its 33rd Art Therapy Summer School this summer and it was a great success, attracting a large number of attendees.
Invited guests at the Friday evening Reception included the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer and
a significant number of senior leaders from a range of sectors.
The theme for the 2026 Art Therapy Summer School was: ‘From Foundations to the Future’.
The venue was Merville House, Merville Garden Village, Newtownabbey, BT37 9TH. https://www.mervillehouse.org/
1.30pm 31st July – 5.00pm 2nd Aug. 2026
** Reports by two attendees reviewing NIGAT’s 2026 Art Therapy Summer School can be viewed below: **
The 2026 NIGAT Art Therapy Summer School BROCHURE, REGISTRATION FORM, PAYPAL payment system, TRAVEL to the venue details, and Press release items are all available below.
BROCHURE:
To download the full brochure, click on the link above. To preview the brochure as a booklet, see below. To see a video of the brochure, see Video.
A Gallery of Photos from the 2026 Art Therapy Summer School (all photos shown with consent)
a co-founder of NIGAT and an inspirational art therapist.
Preview brochure as a booklet
To preview a booklet of the brochure, see below.
or click Booklet.
To REGISTER for the 2026 NIGAT Art Therapy Summer School, attendees:
1) completed and submitted the REGISTRATION FORM, downloaded from the link below, and
2) also sent a payment for the relevant fee:
1) REGISTRATION FORM:
2) PAYPAL or Bank transfer:
You can pay via PayPal to register for the Art Therapy Summer Schools – see below.
To pay via Bank transfer, please see the details on the Registration form.
Bursaries:
Two ‘Alice Graham Bursaries’ were available for the full 2026 Art Therapy Summer School: available on application (eligibility to apply to be considered included: must be a NIGAT member for at least a year); Early registration was highly encouraged to secure a place! Allocated by eligibility and by response time.
Travel:
BY CAR / BUS. From Belfast, Merville House is in Merville Garden Village, just off the Shore Road north of Belfast. (It is off the Shore Road and near Abbeycentre shopping centre.) From the north or the south, it is off the Shore Road. See Google map excerpts below.
Left: route from Belfast City Hall via bus. Middle: route from Belfast City Hall via car (M2 & Shore Rd). Right: into Merville Garden Village
BY TRAIN. The nearest train station is Whiteabbey Train Station, Newtownabbey BT37 0AQ. The venue, Merville House, is only about 5 minutes away from the Station by vehicle, or 30 minutes walking, along the Shore Road towards Belfast. So it would be a very short 5 minute bus or taxi journey from the Station to Merville House. The locations and route are indicated on the Google maps excerpts below to show where the Station is in relation to Merville House. Via this route, the nearest entrance to Merville Garden Village, where Merville House is, is from the Shore Road.
Video of Brochure
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Press release:
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The Belfast News Letter, 13th July 2026 article:
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In 2026, we are celebrating
NIGAT’s 50th anniversary and
74 years since art therapy was introduced into Northern Ireland
by Rita Simon.
Rita was a pioneer of art therapy
from 1942 in England and
from 1952 in N. Ireland.
The 2026 Art Therapy Summer School theme will be
‘From Foundations to the Future’.
(This will continue our year long focus on: ‘Looking back to go forward’.)
On Friday afternoon, the Keynote Speakers opened the Art Therapy Summer School and set the scene for the weekend. The afternoon began the experiential workshops. A Friday evening Reception 6.15-8.00pm included: a video address by Clare Boyd, the Chair of BAAT NI; a video address by Lord Alderdice; a display of art therapy information and art-work by NIGAT & BAAT NI committee members; drinks and a cold buffet. It offered opportunities to meet some NIGAT and Art Therapy pioneers, and meet attendees and invited guests. On Saturday and Sunday we opened each day with 2 presentations, followed by opportunities to respond. After lunch we engaged with workshops. There were 2 closed workshops running over 3 afternoons, and 3 stand-alone workshops: one on each of Friday, Saturday & Sunday. A plenary closed each day.
The Summer School is one of a variety of events during this anniversary year demonstrating art therapy’s foundational roots and their essential and continuing relevance. NIGAT invites participants who would like to know more about art therapy and how the therapeutic use of art can contribute to creative living. The presentations and experiential workshops will be delivered by experienced and HCPC registered Art Therapists, balancing a mixture of theory and practice in the Summer School’s well-tested tradition.
Each annual Art Therapy Summer School will appeal to those who are discovering the pleasure and satisfaction of developing a personal visual language, as well as others who wish to deepen their experience of art therapy as self-communication.
As noted above, past attendees have included NIGAT members and non-members – people from many professions and other fields,
e.g.: art therapists, counsellors, teachers, social workers, nurses, artists, OTs, physiotherapists, doctors, youth workers, psychotherapists, music therapists, dramatherapists, play therapists, care workers, those seeking personal development, and people from all walks of life.
2025 Art Therapy Summer School
In 2025, NIGAT was pleased to announce details of its 32nd Art Therapy Summer School, held once again in the tranquil setting of Glenaulin House, Glen Rd., Belfast, from Friday 1 August to Sunday 3 August 2025. The theme for the 2025 Summer School was ‘Relief, Reset, Repeat!’ – a theme which invited and accommodated the many and varied processes within art therapy and personal artmaking. The flexibility of art materials opens up opportunities to play, bringing the possibility of different outcomes, finding new responses and the motivation to experiment further.
The Report on the 2025 Art Therapy Summer School, written by Eileen McCourt (NIGAT President) is below.
A gallery of photos from the 2025 Art Therapy Summer School is below (displayed here with permission).
The NIGAT Art Therapy Summer School BROCHURE for 2025 is below.
In Rita Simon’s words:
‘I think that my way of looking at art as a therapy is in the context of mental health.
I think that mental health is continuity of the process of bringing together opposites and taking them apart.
Making opposites and bringing them together – continuing the process, going on throughout life’.
(From Rita’s Keynote Presentation at NIGAT’s 1st Art Therapy Summer School 1993)
NIGAT Art Therapy Summer Schools
The Art Therapy Summer School is normally held in early August each year, over several days. Held annually since 1993, the Summer School provides an opportunity for its participants to explore and deepen their relationship with art materials as a means of experiencing the beneficial effects of personal creativity. Presentations and experiential workshops allow connections between theory and practice in a safe environment, held gently by experienced and Registered Art Therapists and other professionals. The Summer School is designed for people interested in art therapy and in creativity and wellbeing. It offers opportunities to learn more about art therapy and the use of art and creativity to facilitate personal well-being. The Art Therapy Summer School also offers valuable CPD for art therapists and other practitioners.
For examples of our Art Therapy Summer Schools, see https://nigat.net/category/summer-school/
