Musings from the Margins

Posts to this blog have been written by our interns from Lesley University’s masters program in Expressive Arts Therapy. This year, we are pleased to welcome Alex Shoemaker.  For an alphabetical list of posts by our wonderful interns, see  Index to Musings.

Since 2013, Emmanuel Church has served as a contextual-education site for Art Therapy Interns from Lesley University. Over the years our interns have served in our rector’s Art & Spirituality Prison Program and Ecclesia Ministries‘ programs common art and Boston Warm.  They have faithfully and creatively recorded their thoughts about their experiences through this blog, which archives a column of the same name on our newsletter This Week @ Emmanuel Church.

Super Angel & the Divine Sidekicks

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I have a shorter blog for you all this week just to report on the current happenings at common art and Boston Warm.

Preparation for longtime member Richard Berman’s play, “Super Angel and the Divine Sidekicks Battle the Government”, is in full swing! This past week we had our casting sign-ups, which was met with a lot of excitement. Many members were eager to sign-up, not only for character roles, but also to offer help with costumes, makeup, tech, and set design. Though I have not been at common art for one of Richie’s plays before, I can already tell that the coordination and performance of these plays bring a lot of joy and meaning into the space. Continue reading →

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate!

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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

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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!

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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

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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!

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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

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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

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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

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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!