I had been warned: Lorraine Palardy is a real dynamo. The one who largely contributed to the birth and growth of Les Impatients has lost none of its legendary energy. And his beliefs.
Posted yesterday at 7:15 a.m.
As we mark the 30and anniversary of this foundation, whose mandate is to combine artistic expression and mental health, I wanted to meet her. I was not deceived.
“This adventure made me experience so many things. But I remember an Impatient woman who said to me just before an exhibition where we saw one of her works: “I’m so happy that my parents are coming, because they’ll see that I’m not just good at taking pills.” This sentence overwhelmed me, because it gave meaning to what we wanted to do. »
The adventure of Impatients, born of a “chance of life”, according to Lorraine Palardy, has its origins in the early 1990s. “The project was to last 10 days. I was president of an association of contemporary art galleries. I had been asked to organize a fundraiser for the Mental Illness Foundation. The concept was based on an exhibition of works produced by patients of Louis-H.-Lafontaine. »
When Lorraine Palardy discovers the small temporary workshop that had been created for the beneficiaries of the institution, she is overwhelmed.
It was both an aesthetic and a human shock. I saw people who had nothing in life, according to our conception of things, who were seriously affected by mental illnesses and who created works showing suns, houses or symbols of their childhood. It upset me.
Lorraine Palardy
Lorraine Palardy, who at the time knew nothing about mental illness and outsider art, decided to invest herself fully in a project that would offer a better structure to this alloy of art and mental health. At first, she called it the Foundation for Therapeutic Art and Raw Art of Quebec.
But in 1999, she decided to rename the organization. “This name came at the end of a long brainstorming process,” she recalls. Around midnight, someone said, “It’s going to be called Les Impatients!” We wanted to get away from the notion of the patient who passively waits for care. We also thought of impatience, this flower that grows in the shade. When you suffer from a mental illness, you have to be strong. You are often forgotten, set aside. »
Lorraine Palardy multiplies the praises when it comes time to talk about the one who offered unwavering support to the foundation, Clémence DesRochers. The latter was already spokesperson for Femmeuses, an exhibition and sale of works by female artists organized at Pratt & Whitney for the benefit of women’s shelters and of which Lorraine Palardy was also coordinator.
“Clemence was extraordinary, because she got on board from the start,” says Lorraine Palardy. She understood the meaning of this, which was not so obvious at first. We were told to partner with a hospital or school boards. We wanted a foundation that would coordinate these workshops. »
In the beginning, we had to organize all sorts of events, including the famous bingos, because the funding only came from the private sector. “Health told us to go see the arts, and the arts told us to go see health. »
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN
Lorraine Palardy intends to pay tribute to Clémence DesRochers, who worked as a volunteer with Les Impatients from 1995 to 2019.
Today, Les Impatients benefits from various sources of funding. The foundation is present in 14 cities in Quebec. In Montreal alone, there are six workshops that welcome people from all walks of life struggling with mental health problems.
Lorraine Palardy notes that the profile of people who attend workshops has changed over the years. We now welcome more young people from the DPJ. “Society has changed and so has the healthcare environment. Mental health experts know that art doesn’t just do good. Art suspends the tragedy of existence. »
Although she continues to volunteer for Les Impatients, Lorraine Palardy “retired” eight years ago. She left the reins of management to her son Frédéric. “It’s tiring to play the official beggar. My son is working to multiply the workshops. That said, we’ve grown in unimaginable ways in 30 years. »
At Les Impatients, we like to say that we don’t know the diagnoses of the people who come to the workshops. It is not important.
We do not treat a disease, we welcome a person. It’s fascinating to see that there is no mimicry in the works they produce. There is direct writing. That’s what they think, that’s what they feel, out of all fads. And it’s good for everyone, those who do it and those who see it.
Lorraine Palardy
The best way to realize this is to go and see the exhibition which will be presented from May 6, at the 1700 La Poste gallery. You will be able to see a selection of works drawn from the collection of 15,000 pieces that Les Impatients have assembled over the past few decades.
Rather than favoring quantity and diversity, we had the good idea to choose artists whose work shows the strike force of Les Impatients. I confess that I had some moments of great emotion.
How not to be overwhelmed by Philippe Lemaire’s drawings all showing the same thing: his father’s car which came to pick him up from the hospital where he was staying? This obsessive impulse shows “his father’s chariot” 65 times. In reality, the artist would have drawn it almost 300 times. We understand by this that he lived only for the visits of his father.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE IMPATIENTS
Drawing by Romain Peuvion inspired by the theme of the piano
How can you remain frozen in front of Romain Peuvion’s drawings inspired by the theme of the piano? A witness to the German Occupation at age 14, Peuvion immigrated to Quebec. Suffering from a severe form of autism, he was thought to be mute for years. It was by following the Impatients workshops that he regained the use of speech.
The day before the opening, May 5, a tribute will be paid to Clémence DesRochers during a special event. “She withdrew a bit today,” said Lorraine Palardy. But we still need her. It is she who carries the spirit of Les Impatients. »
So, if you want to please Clémence, go see this exhibition. It is true that it will do you good.
Exposure Nice to meet you·e! A look at thirty years of creation and hope. From May 6 to June 19, at 1700 La Poste.
https://1700laposte.com