Hello Creative Friend,

This past week we began teaching our 6 week course: Facilitation Skills in Expressive Arts. We were discussing  creating conditions for positive change - conditions in both the facilitator and in the studio space - and how to create a safe and inspiring space for the kind of transformative experience you are seeking to create. I found myself returning to the writings of some of our pioneers in expressive arts work. Natalie and Carl Rogers identify congruence, empathy, and unconditional positive regard as core conditions for facilitating change. (Rogers, 1993). Shaun McNiff is a master at creating a studio by filling a space with people, images, and creative energy, and the space becomes an ensouled alchemical vessel.(McNiff, 2004). Mitchell Kossak (2015) articulates the qualities of presence, attunement, and embodied empathy. Sally Atkins (2007) identifies the importance of having a personal practice that cultivates a receptivity to whatever wants to come into consciousness. Markus Scott-Alexander (2020)teaches us the importance of a nurturing environment created by kind attention to whatever is unfolding within us, between us, and around us. 

When I (Kathleen) stepped into our in-person Open Studio space on Friday, for the first time in six months, I experienced a strong sense of being held. Even before we had completed the unpacking of our supplies and setting up the tables, I was feeling the magic, as this rather bare room became transformed into a studio. As people began arriving with their supplies, projects, ideas, and warm greetings to one another, the space became  more alive with the buzz of creative energy and deep connections. People arriving for the first time were greeted warmly by others who have been coming for years. My heart opened  more fully. 

As everyone settled into a quiet sacred time of art-making, I worked on a partly-finished colored pencil mandala, and chose music to play that seemed to support the energy in the room. I have been away from Sarasota for six months, and I was grateful to be back in this space.  I spent quite a bit of time just gazing around the room, witnessing the array of projects and practices that each person was engaged in. I thought about all the years we have been doing Open Studio. We began it around 2012, I think, in what was then our own studio space. Some of the people that were in the room on Friday have been coming since then. When covid came, we began offering Open Studio online, which also continues to this day. Since we have been in-person again, we offer it at the First Congregational Church, setting up and taking down for each session. The energy has carried through all of these versions of Open Studio. And, although Tamara and I are the hosts, or facilitators, the energy carries us, as well as everyone who comes to join us.

In the words of Shaun McNiff (1998) "there is a force that moves within a group, individual or situation that is distinctly 'other' and not subject to control...... It is the primary carrier of creation. We trust it, and we know it only by experiencing it". This force finds the way through whatever is present. (McNiff, 2004, p.24) That force was  with us in Open Studio. As we moved into our witnessing and sharing time, each person's images came alive, stories were shared, and laughter, tears, and and sacred silence filled the space. 

At the end of our 3 hours, we tucked our treasured images away, said our goodbyes, and the room emptied out. I packed up the supplies and took them back to my car. And then I sat in the empty room for a few minutes, feeling into the almost indescribable substance of what had occurred there over the past few hours. I looked again at my image, and at the words I had written in its voice.

I know the trust that flows onto the page from a quiet heart.

The pace of life slows down here,

As images are called forth 

from invisible mystery into the visible world,

Changing us

Nourishing us

Holding us

Connecting us.

Cultivating the creative space  as facilitators, guides, therapists, humans;  tending to the qualities in ourselves that allow the wisdom of images to come to life; trusting in the creative force that moves through what is present -  this is so much a part of this work.  I invite you to consider these questions, and to response in any modality:

• What does this stir up in you?
• What do you do to invoke the energy of the studio, whether it is in your office, your home, or a dedicated art space?
• What qualities do you cultivate in yourself that facilitate the wisdom of your creative practice? 
• How do you bring these qualities to your work with others, and how do you communicate those qualities?
• Do you give yourself permission to create? 

 If you would like to share with us, you can do that in our private Facebook group here. 

I just posted my image and writing there. 

In case you missed it, we are participating in Art Bundles for Good again this fall and tomorrow is the last day to get over $5000 worth of art classes for close to $100! 🌟
 

Art Bundles for Good is an organization that bundles together digital art courses and donates 25% of the profits to The Uganda Partnership, a bootstrapped charity helping single mothers in Uganda. They’ve already raised US$149,571 for charity so far. 

Click the link below to get over 100 inspiring art classes (including our very own "10 Steps Expressive Arts Practice") from more than 80 talented artists, all for one incredible low price — and support a great charity at the same time.

Honoring your path and grateful for your presence, 

Kathleen, Tamara,  and the Expressive Arts Florida Institute Team

In other news, we are announcing the dates of our next in-person expressive arts training intensive - Expressive Arts as a Wisdom Path: A Journey of Creative Transformation  April 14-17, 2026.  Our next online intensive - Expressive Arts for Body Mind Spirit - is January 13-16. And Creative Presence: Expressive Arts for Individuals is happening Feb. 6 and 20.  Let us know if you would like to learn more. 

We also have a brand new in-person SoulCollage® workshop coming up in December! SoulCollage® and the Labyrinth: Celebrating the Winter Solstice will be on Friday, December 12th after In Person Open Studio. Come celebrate the Winter Solstice with us through deep stillness, reflection and renewal.

Next Monday the 17th, we have our favorite guided workshop, Expressive Arts Discovery! Through guided meditation, artmaking, writing and more you'll discover what's waiting just below the surface to be discovered. 

On the 18th we have our next Online Open Studio with Kathleen. This event is donation based and a wonderful way to create in community from the comfort of wherever you are!

And on the 24th we have our next live Mindful Art Play workshop with Tamara. This is a time for MAP members to come together and practice what they've learned in the membership.

And, stay tuned for details of Kathleen's new program: The Heart of the Elder: An Expressive Arts Journey for Women. ❤️

Scroll down to see our upcoming events, trainings, workshops and more! Or visit our calendar of events here.

Therapy Services

Tamara is accepting new clients in Florida seeking therapy services and support using expressive arts to heal and grow. Using her years of creative practice and a compassionate approach, she is able to help clients access their inner strengths and create the change they most want in their lives. To inquire about services, you can go HERE, call/text 941-444-9585 

or email tknappcounseling@gmail.com

References:

Atkins, Sally & L.D. Williams: Sourcebook in Expressive Arts Therapy, Parkway, 2007

Kossak, Mitchell: Attunement in Expressive Arts Therapy, Charles C. Thomas, 2015

McNiff, Shaun: Trust the Process, Shambhala, 1998

McNiff, Shaun: Art Heals, Shambhala, 2004

Rogers, Natalie: The Creative Connection, Science and Behavior Books, 1993

Scott-Alexander, Markus: Expressive Arts Education and Therapy, Brill Sense, 2020

Tamara Teeter Knapp

MA, NCC, LMHC, REACE®

Kathleen Horne

MA, LMHC(S), REACE®, REAT®

www.expressiveartsflorida.com