Ooops, missed class

Just too busy to make it to class this week. Very disappointed I missed the guest speaker. Be back next week!

Mid-term reflection

*This post is acting as my one page refection of where I'm at in the course thus far.*

Well, in the past 7 weeks or so I have contemplated a slight shift in my possible future career choices. Currently I am finishing up the master's program here in Art Education. I have notice a lot of my art educational theories and practices have therapeutic elements to them. Such as my current thesis work with homeless youth creating community-based activist art. Some aspects I'm investigating are participation and acknowledgment of identity through art making to promote personal and social change. I think these can pertain to art therapy as well. When I applied to SAIC I was torn between the Art Education program, Art Teaching, and the Art Therapy. The only thing that hindered my admission to the Art Therapy was my lack of Psych classes. I could have easily taken them over the summer at a community college. Thinking of taking them this summer. I've been considering a certification in art therapy once I graduate. It's a bit pricey though. But first... gotta finish this thesis!!

I am really enjoying the book, "Introduction to Art Therapy" by Bruce Moon. Right away he expresses his definite role as an artist as well as a therapist. He even mentions that the artist role may be more important than the therapist. I found this so intriguing and refreshing. As an art educator, the idea of being an artist is not as prevalent. I would like to be more in touch with my artist responsibilities but feel like I haven't been able to make the time for them. I am also intrigued by his practice of creating art along side his patients. This is something educators definitely do not do for the most part (unless it's a collaborative project). I am enjoying his vignettes of his past patients. Some of them are more descriptive than others. Some of the experiences he describes with patients seem so minimal but I realize that every little bit of response/reaction he gets from a patient is progress. As an educator I am use to being with students for a short period of time. As an art therapist much more time is needed to build those trusting relationships and to create gradual success. I think I would enjoy spending longer time with students/patients.

The guest speakers we have had so far have been great. I've been loving the different perspectives and practices within the Art Therapy realm. It is really encouraging for those seeking a possible education and/or career in art therapy. And each of the guest have expressed and/or shown their own art making practices and it's importance in their therapeutic careers. I have greatly appreciated the art making activities we do each week. Not only have we seen different methods of art making it has been therapeutic for us as students. I haven't made my own art work in such a long time. I am usually very meticulous and prefer a lot of time to work on one piece of art work but it has been an appreciative challenge creating these smaller and less time consuming pieces. I never use collage type of elements in my larger paintings and it's something worth considering now after the little works i have created in class.

I am excited for the rest of the semester and creating a final creative response. It will most likely be a painting. Possibly a painting that can be incorporated into my thesis. Lets hope that finishing up my thesis doesn't kill me :)

Guest Nicole Baily :)

This week our professor shared with us her clients art work. In the book, Bruce Moon doesn't show many examples and if he does they're very hard to see as black and white copies. I thought looking at these works answered a lot of curiosities. I was curious to see the patients artistic skills as well as learn how these works are evaluated. I think some people would think that a drawing created by a patient would answer the problems but the art is a tool for answering those questions. It was interesting to see work from different types of patients- children/adults/mentally ill. And I like the idea that the art doesn't necessarily have to solve anything. It can just be a positive release for some people.

Next we did an art making activity. We were to trace our hands and create something from those drawings. i overlapped my hand a few times. I colored each section a different colored. I am very annoyed though that I screwed up in the middle with using the wrong color. I would have preferred paint. I am interested to see what further interpretations my teacher can give me.

Time to see a shrink??

In chapter 7 of Bruce Moon's "Introduction to Art Therapy", he mentions that all art therapy students and colleagues should enter psychotherapy. It's funny, I have always been apprehensive about therapy for myself but now I can see why others would be too. I should be open to it if I was going to practice it myself. "Physician, heal thyself."

Guest Angela Lyonsmith from Global Allinace for Africa

Our guest this week, Angela Lyonsmith, introduced the non-profit organization she works for called Global Alliance for Africa. She implements therapeutic elements into art programs in Kenya and Tanzania. I think that all art programs in grief stricken parts of the world should have therapeutic intentions. This is something I would love to do. I want to travel and work with kids anywhere in the world. Not to mention the amazing wildlife and scenery that is experienced.

This weeks art making activity concentrated on the dimensions of personal identity. "A" dimension includes- age, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race, sexual orientation. "B" dimensions include- educational background, geographic location, hobbies/recreational, religion/spirituality, work experience. "C" dimensions include- historical moments/eras. We were to create a collage type of art work that encompassed any of the dimensions mentioned above. Enjoy :)

"Making or Breaking: Art Therapy in the Shifting Tides of a Violent Culture" Lynn Kapitan

This article assigned for this week was much more intriguing and less repetitive than last weeks, "Shamanic Continuities". Kapltan writes, "I wonder why it is that art therapists have not consciously expanded their role from clinician to activist or peacemaker... why aren't art therapists contributing more deliberately to advocacy for transforming our violent culture into one that is compatible with life?" Since I have not been familiar with the art therapy realm I am surprised that art therapists aren't more involved with the issue of violent culture. Artists and educators have been approaching this issue for years. I think adding this therapeutic element could introduce new ideas and ways of dealing with this issue that couldn't be explored with just artists and educators.

Guest Eric Spurth from Sacred Transformations

This week our guest plays the role as an art therapist in a unconventional yet effective practice. Though he does work in clinical settings he embraces his work through an organization he created, Sacred Transformations. Eric Spurth and his volunteer team recreate existing tattoos on people that may have negative cogitations or express painful memories. Also, they transform scars, burns, gunshot wounds with tattoos. What he is providing is a therapeutic transformation but more therapy lies in the process clients must go through to get there tattoo/scar recreated. He does not consciously recognize it because he is mainly concerned about his role as an artist. Again, being an artist as well as a therapist is emphasized by our guest. I find his work very inspiring and he sets an indirect yet positive path for future artists and/or therapists.
http://www.sacredtransformations.org/