The Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills (ARRTS) Program was implemented in 2015 to introduce creative
engagement to wounded, injured and ill members of the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force.
The program has now broadened into accepting candidates from the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency,
the Australian Federal Police, and recently transitioned veterans identified by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
The attendees regularly present with a range of physical injuries and/or post traumatic stress, depression and anxiety
conditions or disorders. Held over four weeks every six months, the immersive residential program is conducted at the specialised
University of Canberra Inspire Centre.
It is significant to note this program is not based on the psychological pedagogy of arts or music therapy. Rather, the mentors are all professional artist
educators — expert practitioners in their fields — who foster the all-important non-judgemental environment the established no-rank, no-uniform foundation requires.
This form of creative engagement is an adjunct to the often utilised pharmaceutical, psychological, physical and spiritual rehabilitation means available to participants,
and is intentionally delivered differently to those methods to provide egalitarian opportunities and options for enhanced wellbeing and resilience growth.
Dr Geoff Grey, CSM
Gallery Curator and Website Host
Dr Geoff Grey is a leading Australian professional performance musician — in his forty second year and counting!
After six thousand+ live performances, being invested in the Australian Honours List (1998) and receiving an ARIA Gold Record (2008),
Dr Geoff Grey continues his famous German (Cramer)/English-Welsh-Irish/Australian family’s centuries old passion for excellence in arts
innovation, through creating groundbreaking indie ensembles for the professional performance of contemporary classical art music.
Geoff is currently the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Australian Wind Symphony. His previous positions
have included directing the nation’s leading professional military music organisations, developing multi-award winning
wind ensembles and creating/delivering in-demand training programs for artistic leaders and managers.
In uniform Geoff has deployed eight times as a contemporary Director/Producer/Performer for tours of duty in support of Australian
and allied troops and, importantly, the local civilian populations Australian troops are protecting. He has featured as a conductor on
ABC Classic FM, and lists his favourite performance venues as the Sydney Opera House, the magnificent KKL in Switzerland, the grounds
of Windsor Castle, the community oval in Western Australia’s remote Beagle Bay, and the White Cliffs tennis courts in outback NSW.
In mainstream music he’s led events involving many luminaries of the Australian music scene, ranging from
John Farnham, The Choirboys, Killing Heidi and Missy Higgins—to Marina Prior, Lee Kernaghan and Guy Sebastian.
Other highlights include conducting Anthem recordings for medal ceremonies at the 2000 Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games
(and Athens 2004), performing/producing ten albums, scripting and directing the significant musical celebrations for the Centenary of the
Royal Military College – Duntroon in 2011, and enjoying career success by somehow surrounding himself with experts that make him look good.
Geoff is also the founding Artistic Director of the Australian Defence Force Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills Program—assisting Australia’s
wounded, injured and ill re-find purpose and potential through creative writing, visual arts, performance and music/rhythm-based creative engagement.
A late entrant to the academic research arena, Geoff sees the opportunity to facilitate sharing creative engagement influenced data and stories of opportunities,
purpose and future possibilities as a significant addition to the narrative of the wounded, injured and ill of our uniformed services, and one that he is uniquely positioned to relay.