PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS
DENVER 2017 - IEAC - EVOLVING WOMEN Art Expression Workshop
CHICAGO WORKSHOPS 2010 - 2014
Creating and facilitating workshops for high school freshman, on the New Trier West Campus through the Erika’s Lighthouse Organization*. Each workshop was @ 45-90 minutes (after school hours)
The groups ranged in size from 8-23 students
There are always materials available to inspire, transform and lift the imagination. Music also plays an integral part in setting the tone.
Students gather informally after school.
gratitude journals
Bowl Building - Clay. In the book Everyday Sacred, Sue Bender explores life's journey using the "bowl" as a symbol for ourselves as vessels. Life is about what we put into our bowl, what we desire for our bowl and how we tend to that bowl. The bowl is a very powerful symbol. Franciscan and Buddhist monks received food/alms in this “begging bowl”. In this workshop we build our own bowls using clay and discuss the idea of what our vessels mean to us as a collective group and as individuals and how we intend to nurture it.
Gratitude Journals - Small journals/Paper/Mod Podge. Studies have shown the tremendous impact of gratitude. Gratitude can increase attention, energy and can improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Oftentimes, keeping a journal can be chore-like, but in using small pocket-sized composition books, students would be more apt have it readily available in their knapsacks or on their bed-side tables. Utilizing scrapbook paper, magazines, catalogs, markers, modpodge and an abundance of materials available to them they create their own gratitude journal. They are to record three things daily they are grateful for in their lives.
The students responded especially well to this workshop and because of the smaller scale and the abundance and various fun materials. They later reported sticking with keeping up to date with their journals.
bowl building
Pastels/Chalk - Pastels/Paper. This workshop involves the sensorial experience of smearing and letting go. Using pastels and chalk students are directed to draw/doodle/smear on a small sheet of paper. Music was upbeat and the chatter of the students create a creative and stimulating environment. Given fifteen minutes and as many small sheets of paper they finish drawing.
Changing environments, moving to a different space with soothing music, they are given a very large sheet of paper and they are to doodle, smear and let go. Students change positions, (some laying on their stomachs or using tape to adhere their paper to a wall) and for about 20 minutes or so they continue to draw.
COLLAGE
Collage - Paper. Without THINKING, nor using scissors students use their hands to rip from magazines or catalogs. Finding colors, textures, words - anything that catches their eye they tear for the purpose of getting out of their heads. Using Mod-Podge and glitter etc. they arrange their collages.
Their collages are then made into gratitude journals. This is a wonderful exercise in stress relief and going to inward to find the quiet space where there is imagination and illumination. Several of the students purchased their own materials and continued this exercise on their own.
pastel workshop
Gathering in a circle afterwards, we engage in an active discussion on what happened during the workshop. In our discussion teens reported that the difference in environment, a larger format to stretch and the quietude allowed them to see the differences and were able to let go. They also said there was a difference in perspective. They found a freedom from going from a small canvas (their thoughts) to a larger place both literally and figuratively which impacted their thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Resources include: Julia Cameron, Walking in the World; Sarah Ban Breathnach, The Illustrated Discovery Journal; Sabrina Ward Harrison The true and the Questions. Cubes, tags and painting - my own work.