Sometimes we are amazed
at the generosity and sharing in the Expressive Arts field! This is truly a global community, and we are grateful.
Here is a glimpse....
In April we taught Expressive Arts in the World - one of our core courses - and seven professionals in the field shared their work - both in-person and via Skype - to inspire and inform our students.
Today, we would like to thank these wonderful people and also give you an inside look into this intensive. It is one of our favorites!
Our goal in this course is
to inspire our students with exposure to a myriad of applications of Expressive Arts, in a variety of settings and cultures. This mind-opening "taste" assists the students in expanding their view and also honing their own vision.
Let us share with you a little of this experience!
What does an artist-in-residence do in a hospital? How can the arts assist people living with cancer and their families?
Carol gave us a beautiful glimpse, from Shibashi (18 movements for healing) to Playback Theater, to ink and string painting, and an overview of the long-standing
program and highly regarded program at Moffitt.
Then Deborah McKeever, LMHC
and expressive arts therapist, joined us. She facilitates groups and individual sessions, through Manatee Glens in Bradenton, FL.
Deborah is a visual artist, with a love for 3-D assemblage. Her gallery -Still Life in G - in Village of the Arts in Bradenton, FL, is a visual feast, and Deborah offers workshops there.
Deborah's presentation - An Easier, Softer
Way - introduced us to the creative, fun, and deeply meaningful arts interventions she has designed for her clients.
A puppet making session and a demo of how she uses puppets in a therapy setting, brought this rich experience to a close. Deborah has a full day workshop coming up in November. Details here.
Kate Donohue, "skyping in" from San Francisco, was next, sharing her work with Indigenous Arts and Expressive Arts. Kate is Licensed
Psychologist and a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) with a deep passion for the arts, culture and dance. Her life work in teaching supervision, consultation, training and private practice has been to marry Jungian theory with expressive arts therapy. She travels and teaches around the world.
Kate guided us in an exploration of our own cultural roots and provided us with some wonderful resources to explore Indigenous Arts and the roots of Expressive Arts.
Witness the 2015 Ghana trip at:
We love these words of wisdom from Kate: "Keep your passion for the arts alive while you pursue your career goals. Stay close to your values and always be open and curious about other cultures and life styles. Go back to your roots and learn about the rituals, celebrations and traditions of your own family and culture. Be sure to seek good mentors who you can rely on and trust for consultation now and in the future.”
As part of the weekend class, our students facilitated some community art-making - collaborative mandalas and the IMAGINE Project - as part of the Towles Court Art
Walk, too. It was a beautiful evening with some lovely interactions, conversations, and imagery.
Back in the studio the next morning,
Fiona Chang joined us from Hong Kong, via Skype. Fiona is a REAT (Registered Expressive Arts Therapist) and a Registered Social Worker, trained in the Person-Centered approach with Dr. Natalie Rogers. She has integrated multi-modal expressive arts processes in counseling and group therapy for nearly 20 years in a variety of settings.
Fiona has founded an expressive
arts training program in Hong Kong, and is also a Ph.D. student and full time mother.
In the photo, Fiona is playing her drum while we are setting intentions for a beautiful Imaginative Tea Meditation.
Fiona shared her work in therapy, hospital, and community settings in Hong Kong, and she addressed cultural considerations.
View the brief video of Expressive Arts Hong Kong here.
And remember the IEATA Conference in October 2015 is in Hong Kong! We hope to see you there.
Patricia Rojas-Zambrano visited, via Skype, from San Francisco, and led us in a powerful experiential and didactic process focusing on Expressive Arts for social change. Patricia
shared her recent experiences in Guatemala, bringing the work to women in a small Mayan village, as part of an IEATA initiative.
Originally from Colombia, Patricia is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and
expressive arts therapist, currently working as work as a Clinical Consultant for the Health Equity program at San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit.
She is a visual artist, specializing in art journaling, which she teaches in a variety of locations. For more about Patricia,
visit:
Her words of wisdom are so important: "Keep your arts
practice alive! Never disconnect from the pleasure of creating, just for the sake of it! And dip your toes into an arts practice that is new to you or that you know less of, it will always open up new avenues of understanding".
Linda Joffe got us on our feet, and in our bodies, with Shake Your Soul, a movement modality deeply connected to the expressive arts. Trained in Art and Healing at Ringling College of Art and Design, Linda has married her lifelong training and experience with modern dance, expressive arts, and Shake Your Soul certification. Linda has facilitated expressive arts sessions for the Friendship Centers' Caregivers Program, the Women's Resource Center of Sarasota County, Jewish Family and Children's Service (JFCS) and the Association for Professional Jewish Artists.
As she builds her community expressive arts practice, she offers this advice to students: "Be patient and let it unfold. Find what aspect of the expressive arts you are really passionate about....Form collaborations with others in the field, or similar
field."
We finished off the weekend with an inspirational Skype visit with Fay Wilkinson, sharing from Eagle Lake/Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.
Fay is a REACE (Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator) who designs and delivers expressive arts experiences for both individuals and groups of all ages, and researches the link between the mental wellness of seniors and the
creative process.
She teaches in the Expressive Arts Post Graduate Program at Fleming College.
Her current focus is establishing the Visible Voices Open Arts Studio as a creative hub, practicum location and research centre in Haliburton County. www.openartsstudio.ca and on Facebook
A story teller, puppet maker, mask maker and all-round
keeper of the creative fire, Fay is always an inspiration to us. Watch her moving Visible Voices video here and be sure to visit her website
One of our students, Mayten Sanchez Ruiz, was here from Peru, where she has created a small and powerful
arts-based program, weaving people, communities, realities, dreams, ideas and efforts to create together possibilities for a new world to be born! Visit La Casa de Mayten here.
Thanks for sharing in our global Expressive Arts community!
If you would like to know more about our certificate training program or our life enrichment
classes, please visit our website or email us. We are always happy to hear from you. *Victoria Domenichello-Anderson, MA,
Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator
*Kathleen Horne, MA, LMHC,
Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator
*Tamara Teeter Knapp, BA,
Certified K-12 Art Teacher
Expressive Arts in the World Student Group 2015
|
|
