Spark of Brilliance, founded in 1999 by Judith Rosenberg, provides opportunity for persons with mental health concerns and other life challenges to experience the creative arts, within a circumspect, sustaining, community-based milieu. The program’s distinctive model was conceived from a belief that healing and recovery can be kindled through the arts.

The Spark of Brilliance team of Creative Mentors, Community Partners, participants, and families are recognizing significant life changes for members and their supportive allies.

The initiative’s founder is Judith Rosenberg, a mental health professional living in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Judith identified the need to empower people with mental health concerns to discover their particular Spark of Brilliance when her son Jay Lefler, an aspiring artist, lost all artistic memory through acute psychosis.

The experience of Jay Lefler is chronicled in his words:

“For many years I had no idea what was keeping me from being able to complete my schooling and from digging in with my education. It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I actually began to understand there might be forces beyond my control present that had nothing to do with ‘adolescent angst’ or lack of motivation. It took the reality of several experiences of psychosis for my family and me to understand fully what was actually happening. I was 31 years old when I was hospitalized with acute psychosis and a diagnosis of Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder was identified. It was then that my journey to wellness began.

“My love of art, painting and creative expression played a huge role in my healing. It all started when my mother brought charcoals and a sketch pad to the hospital and I slowly began to reconnect with my creative spirit. From that point on I have continued to paint and create, have held many art exhibitions, and work from my own space, 'Golden Brain Studio,' where I run a small graphic art and website design business."