Button for the art show Still Sane, which exhibited in Vancouver in 1984. Still Sane told the story of Sheila Gilhooly’s entrapment within the psychiatric system in the late 60s and early 70s, when homosexuality was still a category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and sexism was rife in the profession. Twelve months later the book Still Sane by Persimmon Blackbridge and Sheily Gilhooly rolled off the presses of the local feminist publisher Press Gang, bringing the show’s mix of feminist, lesbian and mad politics to a wider audience.

The art show Still Sane hit the Vancouver art scene in the fall of 1984. It told the story of Sheila Gilhooly’s entrapment within the beast that psychiatry was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when sexism was rife in the profession and homosexuality was still a category in the DSM (Diagnostics and Statistical Manual). Twenty-seven female figures with anguished faces, inscribed with Sheila’s stories of incarceration, greeted visitors to the Women in Focus Gallery. Just twelve months later the book Still Sane rolled off the presses of the local feminist publisher Press Gang, bringing the show’s compelling mix of feminist, lesbian and mad politics to a much wider audience.

The above text is taken from writing done by Megan Davies and Tracey Mitchell for an online exhibit about Still Sane and available on the Madness Canada website. Madness Canada is an “activist site that supports academic-community collaborations. Madness Canada is your passport to diverse inquiries into the past, present, and future of mental health.”