TGR The Green Room

26/01/2026

11/01/2026

an uncomfortable topic.... but worthy of reflection... https://www.thegreenroomforartists.de/resourcelibrary/narcissisminthearts

A resource sheet for artists, students, teachers, and those navigating difficult artistic relationships Why Narcissism Comes Up So Often in the Arts Few fields live so publicly on the fault line between selfless devotion and shameless self-display as the arts. Artists are asked to cultivate a str

03/01/2026

👂The Listening Room👂 returns for Season Two (2026)

A peer support and professional development forum for mental health practitioners working with performing artists.

The Listening Room offers 90-minute online forums for reflective exchange, shared inquiry, and practice-oriented dialogue for Mental Health Practitioners working with Performing Artists. The series is exclusively for members of the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) and brings together psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, coaches, and allied professionals working across the performing arts ecosystem.

Each session features an in-depth conversation with an invited guest, followed by facilitated peer dialogue focused on clinical reflection, ethical practice, and sustainable professional development.

Season Two guest speakers

• Dr. Alana Mendelsohn – psychiatrist & neuroscientist, founding director of Creatives Care; January 13th

• Line Hilton – voice, performance & resilience coach, February 10th

• Angelica Potter – performance psychology consultant, March 10th

Moderated by Heather O’Donnell, psychologist, artistic-systemic therapist, pianist, founding director of

📅 January–March 2026

🖥 Online | 90 minutes

🔒 PAMA members

The Listening Room is a collegial space for shared learning, critical reflection, and professional growth in the complex field of performing artists’ mental health.

CCreatives CarePPerforming Arts Medicine Association (PAMA)

Register: https://artsmed.org/events/the-listening-room-peer-support-and-professional-development-forum-for-mental-health-practitioners-specialized-in-working-with-performing-artists/

29/12/2025

The Green Room in 2025: Looking Ahead

Alongside these meaningful chapters, 2025 also brought significant challenges: TGR is currently receiving approximately 90% less in funding than in the years 2022–2024, reflecting a broader contraction in cultural funding across Europe.

Even so, TGR continued its steady—often unseen—work: listening, accompanying, advocating, and building structures of care with and for artists. In times of contraction, this work depends not only on institutions, but on artists standing alongside one another, sharing resources, attention, and responsibility.
We thank everyone who contributed, collaborated, taught, attended, donated, or simply stayed connected in 2025. Your presence sustains this ecosystem. We look forward to continuing this work together in 2026.

The Green Room 2025: Ausblick
Neben diesen wichtigen Entwicklungen brachte das Jahr 2025 auch erhebliche Herausforderungen mit sich: TGR erhält derzeit rund 90 % weniger Fördermittel als in den Jahren 2022–2024. Diese Entwicklung spiegelt einen allgemeinen Rückgang der Kulturförderung in weiten Teilen Europas wider.
Dennoch setzte TGR seine kontinuierliche, oft unsichtbare Arbeit fort: zuhören, begleiten, Interessen vertreten und gemeinsam mit Künstlern Strukturen der Fürsorge aufbauen. In Zeiten des Rückzugs hängt diese Arbeit nicht allein von Institutionen ab, sondern davon, dass Künstler füreinander einstehen, Ressourcen teilen sowie Aufmerksamkeit und Verantwortung miteinander tragen.
Wir danken allen, die 2025 beigetragen, kooperiert, gelehrt, teilgenommen, gespendet oder einfach den Kontakt gehalten haben. Ihre Präsenz trägt dieses Ökosystem. Wir freuen uns darauf, diese Arbeit 2026 gemeinsam fortzusetzen.

28/12/2025

2025: 12 Monate im TGR The Green Room

2025 war ein Jahr der Transformation, der Reflexion und der Beharrlichkeit. Inmitten sich wandelnder kultureller Rahmenbedingungen tat TGR The Green Room weiterhin das, was wir am besten können: Räume schaffen, in denen Künstler*innen denken, fühlen, sich verbinden, mobilisieren – und Kraft schöpfen können.

Einige Schlaglichter aus unserem Jahr:

Dezember – Neue Dimensionen der Unterstützung
Zum Jahresende konnten wir neue internationale Kooperationen vertiefen: Heather trat dem in England ansässigen Music Industry Therapist Collective (MITC) bei und erweiterte damit unser Engagement in Advocacy-Arbeit und professionellem Austausch.
Dieser Geist offenen, kollegial getragenen Lernens spiegelte sich auch in The Vienna Experiment wider, geleitet von der australischen Sopranistin Siobhan Stagg – einem innovativen Masterclass-Format, das auf Transparenz, Dialog und kollektiver Verantwortung basiert. Für ihre Großzügigkeit, die Erlöse dieser Arbeit an TGR The Green Room zu spenden, sind wir ihr sehr dankbar. Dies steht in enger Resonanz mit der Ethik der Fürsorge und der professionellen Solidarität, die all unsere Arbeit prägt – von den Listening-Room-Sessions über die Performing Arts Medicine Association für im künstlerischen Feld tätige Mental-Health-Praktiker bis hin zu unserem fortlaufenden Engagement im Vorstand des European Network of Cultural Centres.

Here are some glimpses into life in and around TGR in 2025:

December – New Dimensions of Support

We closed the year with new international cooperation: Heather joined the Music Industry Therapist Collective (MITC) based in England, expanding our engagement in advocacy and professional exchange.

This spirit of open, peer-supported learning was echoed in "The Vienna Experiment", led by Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg — an innovative masterclass format grounded in transparency, dialogue, and collective responsibility. We are deeply grateful for her generosity in donating the proceeds of this work to TGR The Green Room. This closely resonates with the ethics of care and professional solidarity that underpin all of our work.

22/12/2025

2025: 12 Monate im TGR The Green Room

2025 war ein Jahr der Transformation, der Reflexion und der Beharrlichkeit. Inmitten sich wandelnder kultureller Rahmenbedingungen tat TGR The Green Room weiterhin das, was wir am besten können: Räume schaffen, in denen Künstler*innen denken, fühlen, sich verbinden, mobilisieren – und Kraft schöpfen können.

Einige Schlaglichter aus unserem Jahr:

September – Von der Oper Köln nach Kotor, Montenegro
In der Oper Köln co-leiteten wir mit Sopranistin Emily Hindrichs einen Workshop zu auditionbezogenem Druck, inneren und äußeren Kritiken sowie der Verbindung zu den eigenen künstlerischen Werten. Später reiste Heather nach Kotor (Montenegro) zur ENCC-Jahreskonferenz und tauschte sich mit Kolleg*innen zu Partizipation, Demokratie und der Rolle kultureller Zentren in unsicheren Zeiten aus.

2025: 12 Months in TGR The Green Room

2025 was a year of transformation, reflection, and persistence. Amid shifting cultural landscapes, TGR The Green Room continued to do what it does best: create spaces where artists can think, feel, connect, mobilise, and regain strength.

Here are some glimpses into life in and around TGR in 2025:

September – From Oper Köln to Kotor, Montenegro
At Oper Köln’s Opera Studio, we co-led a workshop with soprano Emily Hindrichs on navigating audition pressure, managing inner and outer critics, and staying connected to artistic values. Later in the month, Heather travelled to Kotor, Montenegro for the ENCC Annual Conference, joining colleagues to exchange practices on participation, democracy, and the role of cultural centres in uncertain times. .hindrichs.soprano

21/12/2025

2025: 12 Monate im TGR The Green Room

2025 war ein Jahr der Transformation, der Reflexion und der Beharrlichkeit. Inmitten sich wandelnder kultureller Rahmenbedingungen tat TGR The Green Room weiterhin das, was wir am besten können: Räume schaffen, in denen Künstler*innen denken, fühlen, sich verbinden, mobilisieren – und Kraft schöpfen können.

Einige Schlaglichter aus unserem Jahr 2025:

August – Spendenbasierte Beratung in Köln
Als Antwort auf steigenden finanziellen und psychischen Druck im Kulturbereich starteten wir gemeinsam mit der Alten Feuerwache Köln ein spendenbasiertes Beratungsangebot für Künstler*innen. Bis zu vier Einzelsitzungen am Donnerstagvormittag ermöglichten niedrigschwellige Unterstützung für Menschen, die sonst keine Hilfe in Anspruch nehmen könnten. Neben Heathers Beratung bot auch Brigitte Schreiner spendenbasierte Sitzungen an und erweiterte so das Spektrum.

2025: 12 Months in TGR The Green Room

2025 was a year of transformation, reflection, and persistence. Amid shifting cultural landscapes, TGR The Green Room continued to do what it does best: create spaces where artists can think, feel, connect, mobilise, and regain strength.

Here are some glimpses into life in and around TGR in 2025:

August – Donation-Based Counselling in Cologne
Responding to increasing financial pressure and psychological strain in the arts, we launched a donation-based counselling offer for artists and cultural workers in cooperation with Alte Feuerwache Köln. Up to four individual sessions on Thursday mornings created low-threshold access to psychological support for people who might otherwise go without help. Alongside Heather’s psychological counselling, Brigitte Schreiner also began offering donation-based sessions, expanding the scope of support.

20/12/2025

2025: 12 Monate im TGR The Green Room

2025 war ein Jahr der Transformation, der Reflexion und der Beharrlichkeit. Inmitten sich wandelnder kultureller Rahmenbedingungen tat TGR The Green Room weiterhin das, was wir am besten können: Räume schaffen, in denen Künstler*innen denken, fühlen, sich verbinden, mobilisieren – und Kraft schöpfen können.

Einige Schlaglichter aus unserem Jahr 2025:

Juli – GreenHaven in Bonn
Im Juli freuten wir uns, dass ehemalige GreenHaven-Resident*innen weiterhin wichtige Debatten mitgestalten. Iryna Serebriakova sprach bei einem Panel des Theater Bonn über Giya Kanchelis Oper Music for the Living – zu verborgenem Sinn, Krieg und der Rolle von Musik, wenn die Welt brennt.

2025: 12 Months in TGR The Green Room

2025 was a year of transformation, reflection, and persistence. Amid shifting cultural landscapes, TGR The Green Room continued to do what it does best: create spaces where artists can think, feel, connect, mobilise, and regain strength.

Here are some glimpses into life in and around TGR in 2025:

July – GreenHaven in Bonn

In July, we were happy to see our GreenHaven residency artists continuing to shape wider conversations. Former resident Iryna Serebriakova joined a panel at Theater Bonn on Giya Kancheli’s opera Music for the Living, reflecting on hidden meanings, war, and the role of music when the world feels on fire.

19/12/2025

2025: 12 Monate im TGR The Green Room

2025 war ein Jahr der Transformation, der Reflexion und der Beharrlichkeit. Inmitten sich wandelnder kultureller Rahmenbedingungen tat TGR The Green Room weiterhin das, was wir am besten können: Räume schaffen, in denen Künstler*innen denken, fühlen, sich verbinden, mobilisieren – und Kraft schöpfen können.

Einige Schlaglichter aus unserem Jahr 2025:

Juni – Paris und Vocal Pathways
Juni war international und zugleich sehr nah am Menschen. In Paris nahmen Heather und Outi an einem Arbeitstreffen in der Cité internationale des arts zu Notresidenzen für Künstler*innen im Exil teil, ko-organisiert mit DutchCulture, On the Move und PEN/Artists at Risk Connection. Zurück in Köln veranstalteten wir Vocal Pathways, ein Workshop-Wochenende mit vier herausragenden Sängerinnen – Laura Marti, Mariana Sadovska, Julia Zipprick und Tamara Lukasheva – mit niederschwelligen Zugängen zu Improvisation, Stimme und verkörperter künstlerischer Arbeit.
(Musik aus Mariane Sadovskas Workshop)

2025: 12 Months in TGR The Green Room

2025 was a year of transformation, reflection, and persistence. Amid shifting cultural landscapes, TGR The Green Room continued to do what it does best: create spaces where artists can think, feel, connect, mobilise, and regain strength.

Here are some glimpses into life in and around TGR in 2025:

June – Paris and Vocal Pathways
June was both international and grounded in care. In Paris, Heather and Outi took part in a working meeting at the Cité internationale des arts on emergency residencies for artists in exile, co-organised with DutchCulture, On the Move, and PEN/Artists at Risk Connection. Back in Cologne, we hosted Vocal Pathways, a weekend of workshops with four leading singers — Laura Marti, Mariana Sadovska, Julia Zipprick, and Tamara Lukasheva — offering accessible pathways into improvisation, voice, and embodied artistic expression.
(Music from Mariana Sadowska‘s workshop) .mariana

06/09/2025

Artistic careers aren’t ladders. They’re constellations. ✨

Most unfold with gaps, detours, false starts, even failures. Training prepares us for mastery, but not for the chronic uncertainty. Institutions reward excellence but ignore the fragility beneath it.

When the frame cracks — through injury, burnout, pressure from loved ones, or a global pandemic — questions erupt:

How do I keep going when the work isn’t viable?
How do I tell the difference between persistence and self-abandonment?
What if the dream was never truly mine?

These questions are not failure. They are the reality of art in an unstable world.

Agency in the face of change means shifting perspective:
from ladder → to constellation
from achievement → to meaning
from doing more → to doing what matters

A career marked by doubt, breaks, or reinvention isn’t a broken career. It’s a human one. You are allowed to reshape the frame. You are allowed to begin again.

👉 Full resource here: https://www.thegreenroomforartists.de/resourcelibrary/upsanddowns


6 m

05/09/2025

Imposter Syndrome isn’t a DSM-5 diagnosis- but it is a secret epidemic.

Most artists know the feeling, though most don’t admit it.

Imposter feelings grow in the shadows of perfectionism, privilege gaps, and cultures of constant evaluation. They thrive in silence.

They’re not proof of failure: they’re proof of humanity. And when spoken aloud, they often lose their grip.

This post shows some of the hidden patterns of Imposter Syndrome — and how artists can begin to reclaim self-worth from the claws of doubt.

👉 Full resource sheet here: https://www.thegreenroomforartists.de/resourcelibrary/impostersyndrome

04/09/2025

Artistic Identity Often Runs Too Deep
Artistic identity often forms early—shaping not just a career, but an entire ecosystem of habits, values, and emotional wiring. It can sustain and define you—but when life shifts, it may no longer serve you.

Art as Survival—Before It’s a Vocation
Many artists first turned toward creative work to soothe fear or regulate conflict. Over time, institutions bless that coping strategy as “giftedness.” But what started as survival hardens into identity—and a person can vanish behind the role of “artist.”

Identity Is a Story. And a Strategy.
Simone de Beauvoir reminds us: Self-knowledge is not knowledge, but a story one tells about oneself. We compose our stories from what we do, what happens to us, and how others see us. That narrative shapes—and limits—who we become.

Identity as Armor
Wilhelm Reich taught that our identities often bear the imprint of what we've had to suppress—fear, anxiety, unmet needs. Ours is a constructed self, half survival strategy, half myth. Artistic identity can exhilarate—but also entomb.

The Artist Is One Chapter, Not the Whole Book
It’s no surprise many artists struggle to experience themselves beyond their art. That identity took root when the broader self was still forming. But it doesn’t have to stay that way: you can widen the story, reclaim the person behind the role.

When Identity Becomes a Cage

When “I am an artist” becomes an existential truth, every failure feels like annihilation. But identity must remain a project—not destiny. Otherwise, the very gift that sustained you becomes the cage that confines you.

Hold It Lightly
Artistic identity can sustain, distort, protect, or imprison. The real work is not to discard it—but to hold it lightly—so both art and person remain alive, unfinished, and free.

Unpack this deeper: check out Artistic Identity from The Green Room for Artists
🔗 https://www.thegreenroomforartists.de/resourcelibrary/artistic-identity