On Wednesday, May 9, family lawyers, parenting and financial professionals, local artists, colleagues, friends and community members will gather at Collaborative Practice Toronto Presents: Art Bash, an evening of networking and fundraising in support of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Art Bash is an interactive and dynamic event that allows guests to experience the professional artistic process up close and in the moment while contributing to the Medical Psychiatry Alliance (MPA), a collaborative partnership dedicated to transforming the delivery of mental health services for patients in Ontario.

“Collaborative Practice Toronto is an interdisciplinary group comprised of specially trained and family-centric lawyers, mental health professionals and financial professionals who resolve separation issues out of court,” says family law lawyer and event organizer Barbara Gordon. “Collaborative Practice in family law focuses on children and the health of the family as our collaboratively trained professionals help spouses co-operatively navigate the hills and valleys of separation; the resulting settlements are custom fit for each family as we put the needs of children and their families at the core of all our efforts. That is why we felt a natural alliance with SickKids and wanted to give back; particularly in the area of mental health.”

At Wednesday’s event, guests will have an opportunity to enjoy a cocktail reception, live art competition hosted by CTV’s Ken Shaw and a silent auction of fine wines, fabulous sporting, theatrical and musical event tickets, jewellery, spas and other great items; all while giving back to an important cause. Expect the chance to acquire your own original work of art by bidding on a masterpiece the artists create on-the-spot in just 30 minutes, and enjoy food, wine and beer. All the artists participating in the competition are associated with Art Battle Canada, an organization that has held over 550 events with more than 6,000 artist-competitors across Canada since 2009. SickKids patient ambassador, Hunter, will paint alongside these artists at Wednesday’s event.

In Ontario, 1.3 million people suffer from co-morbid physical and mental health illness. In many cases, treatment of these patients fails because our health care system is designed to focus on either physical or mental illness but not both at the same time. The Medical Psychiatry Alliance is supported by SickKids, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Trillium Health Partners (THP) and the University of Toronto (U of T) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). The first of its kind in Canada, the Alliance is dedicated to transforming the delivery of mental health services for patients who suffer from physical and psychiatric illness or medically unexplained symptoms.