Practice Description
Susan Beniston is registered/credentialed with CATA/OATA. She has been a board certified art therapist for more than 25 years, ATR-BC. She has extensive experience in sensory-based attunement, and trauma informed art therapy practices; actively promoting the arts and well-being.
Susan’s interests are in arts-practice as research and inquiry; which includes ‘meaning-full’ art-making, authentic instruction and the relational learning/dialogue that occurs within studio contexts and Art Hives.
In 2017, Susan founded Sheridan’s Art Hive Initiative at Sheridan College (Ontario); to share the Art Hives movement within this learning community. Designed to braid together arts-based-belonging, wellness, creativity and relational-inclusivity in a publicly accessible context. Sheridan's Art Hive Initiative was opened to all students, faculty, and staff ~ to offer opportunities for arts-based co-creativity and joy within community; crossing disciplines, eroding silos and aimed to diminish hierarchies within the College system.
As a CATA member Susan has worked instrumentally with others to gather, share and connect socially engaged arts-based practices in community. Recently, her pARTicipatory installation, titled " Inspiration|Exhalation: Breath-Taking-Time and The Space Within Us" was curated into Nuit Blanche Toronto 2022 as an Independent Project, relevant to The Space Between Us.
As well as being an art therapist, Susan is a sculptor. Now retired as a full-time art educator from the Faulty of Animation, Arts and Design at Sheridan College, she is affiliated with TATI's Community of Practice as a Thesis and Major Project Advisor and faculty. She is also actively involved as Education Chair on the Board of the Ontario Art Therapy Association.
