We had a great Halloween here at common art and Boston Warm. We were fortunate that Halloween fell on Friday this year, which meant that we got to have a Halloween party of sorts during Boston Warm! We watched “Nightmare before Christmas”, played some board games, and ate some candy, cookies, and popcorn! Continue reading
Musings from the Margins
Happy Halloween to those who celebrate!
We had a fun week here at common art and Boston Warm. Let me catch you up with an encouraging story from this week:
Two Fridays ago, one of our members found a Notre Dame class ring on the street. He came to me wondering how we could track down the owner of the ring. He told me that he could easily pawn the ring and get the money for it, but wanted to return the ring to the rightful owner because he knew they would be hurting over the loss of such a sentimental and valuable ring. Because the ring was engraved with the owner’s initials and graduation date, we decided it might be worth a shot to call the Notre Dame alumni office to see if they could track this person down. Low and behold, it worked! The alumni office was able to find the owner, so I was able to return the ring to her this past Wednesday before common art. Continue reading
Loving-Kindness Meditation
We’ve had another great week here at common art and Boston Warm. Wednesday we had our October meeting for Can We Talk? — a time for members to openly share their stories without feedback or judgement. One of our members shared a couple of his poems, while another member shared a speech she’s working on for a city council meeting in a few weeks. This hour is always a great time to hear what is on people’s hearts and hold what is said in community with one another. Like last month, I was able to lead the closing exercise and chose to do another mindfulness meditation, which I will share with you all. Continue reading
Welcome, Alex Shoemaker!
Hello! I am Alex Shoemaker, the new intern for common art, Boston Warm, and the Art & Spirituality Prison Program. Let me introduce myself a bit here so that you all will know the “girl behind the blog posts” for the next eight-or-so months. I am originally from San Diego, California, and moved to Boston in July 2024 to attend Lesley University’s M.A. program in Art Therapy and Clinical Counseling. I love all things visual and the expressive arts, so I am excited to accompany the members of common cathedral in their art making. I am particularly interested in the intersection of community building and the healing power of art making, which is exactly what common art is all about. My hope for my time at Emmanuel is that I may help encourage restorative community and connection through therapeutic witnessing and accompaniment… and of course, art!
My first two weeks at common cathedral were spent getting to know many of its members and learning about their experience in the program. I have been met with such a warm welcome from the members, for which I am immensely grateful. There seems to be an energy of hope and excitement for the coming months. I am honored to be even a small part in the events that are about to take place this fall and winter. Among the upcoming events is the common cathedral Art Show, which is taking place in Beverly this Sunday, September 28. Members will be exhibiting and selling their artwork made during common art. Longtime member Dennis shared with me that many members are fundraising for the Poor People’s Campaign and their upcoming trip to Washington D.C. to march alongside activists from across the nation. The art show will be a wonderful opportunity for common art members to showcase their work (and by extension themselves) in a space that prioritizes dignity, respect, and care. Additionally, longtime member Richard Berman has written another play for common cathedral. I am honored and excited to be asked to help him bring it to life this fall. It’s gonna be good, you won’t want to miss it! Production date and other details about the play will be announced soon.
Appreciating Superpowers
Another common art production in the books: the Easter Play was a huge success. I am so proud of all my cast members for their hard work. I think the most gratifying part was not the performance itself, but the process: getting to see everyone become more comfortable being expressive and dramatic, and seeing the unique ways in which they each related to their characters. I did a “talkback” after the play, where I asked each cast member to share something they had learned from the experience. It was beautiful to hear everyone’s unique take-aways. Whether it was about sharing a message of stopping violence, appreciating small joys, embracing skepticism, making oneself heard, or having faith, it seems as if everyone got what they needed out of it. That’s the whole point of drama therapy: that people will project the healing experience they need into the dramatic work. Continue reading
Happy Easter!
This week is our Easter Play! Woohoo! It has been such an honor to lead its rehearsal sessions and watch these cast members bloom into dedicated actors. I am sure the performance will be a hit; but regardless of the outcome, I am immensely proud of all of them for showing up, investing their beautiful creative energy, and humoring my weird, drama-therapy, acting exercises. Continue reading
Rehearsing Our Easter Play
Over the past couple weeks, our Easter Play rehearsals have taken on a new rhythm. It’s been such a joy to watch the group grow more connected—to each other and to the characters they’re embodying.
We’ve been starting each session with playful physical warm-ups to get everyone moving and loosened up. Prompts like “walk as if you’re being chased by bees” or “walk in slow motion” usually get a few laughs, but they also help folks get out of their heads and into their bodies. From there, we transition into “walk as your character,” which invites people to begin stepping into their roles in a physical, intuitive way. Continue reading
Improvisation
This week, we’re continuing rehearsals for the Easter Play, and I’m excited to incorporate some drama-therapy-based character work into the process. Through a series of movements and prompts, participants will step into their characters to explore their desires, motivations, and challenges through light improvisation.
This will be my first time facilitating exercises like these, so I’ll admit I’m a bit nervous. I know, however, that the only way to improve is by practicing; and honestly, I couldn’t think of a better group to practice with.
If time allows, I’ll continue with my superhero interviews, but otherwise I’m taking it easy this week. Looking forward to seeing where all of this leads!
– Mary Schwabenland
Preparation for Our Easter Play
This week, back from my spring break, I’m feeling refreshed and ready to dive back into creative collaboration here at common art.
First up is the kickoff meeting for our Easter Play! My plan is to start with a warm-up activity to break the ice and get everyone engaged before we do a read-through of the script, written by our beloved community member Richie Berman. Since this script is shorter than our December play, I’m hoping we can spend more time having fun with it rather than getting too caught up in staging logistics.
Over the next few weeks, I’d love to incorporate more character work and acting exercises (with a therapeutic lens, of course), which you might see in a traditional theatre group.
Beyond that, I’m still continuing with the superhero interviews; and people are coming up with some truly creative responses. Last time, we had one superhero whose power came from sandwiches and another whose strength was fueled by friendship bracelets. I loved seeing how much fun everyone was having with it.
That’s all for this week. I’m excited to see where these projects take us!
Spectrogram
Last Wednesday, I decided to do a performance-based workshop with my common art poetry group, using Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. We mixed things up with some acting exercises, which had everyone laughing and really brought the poem to life. It was such a great reminder of how performance can transform poetry into something so dynamic and engaging. The energy in the room was contagious! Continue reading