This year I join Emmanuel Church as an intern from Lesley University’s Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Art Therapy. As a second-year student, I have been eager to begin working in the community connecting with others.

For as long as I can remember, art has held a safe space for me to express myself, finding comfort and exhilaration with each brushstroke or sketched line. As a grade-schooler, I found art to be the most compelling subject and quickly developed a long-lasting passion in an after-school painting class. After many years exploring artistic media, I still can vividly feel the joy of creating that first painting of a yellow dog in a snowy scene. Dragging the long brush across the canvas to create the texture of snow I felt the empowerment of seeing my own creations start to come alive.

After time spent studying visual arts, I found myself becoming quite interested in the transformative powers of art to help individuals and communities. This combined with my interest in working with and understanding others, I began to read about Art Therapy and consider if this may be something I was interested in pursuing. I decided to try out an Expressive Arts Therapy class to test the waters. After one class at Lesley, I knew I had found my path towards helping others.

I was really drawn to Emmanuel Church as an internship site after experiencing the rector’s hands- on community work as a volunteer with the Arts & Spirituality group at the South Bay House of Correction. I was impressed and eager to learn more about the ways that Emmanuel offers unique and vibrant experiences to various communities through programming that promote autonomy and creativity. I saw these offerings as genuinely unique fostering community by empowering participants to co-construct the space. Emmanuel’s willingness to work with community members extending unconditional acceptance inspired me to get involved as an intern.

Having accepted the internship this past February, much in our world and daily lives has dramatically shifted as we have adapted to care for ourselves and others in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak. This created some questions for me about what the internship experience would look like and I again found myself inspired by Emmanuel’s dedication to continue working with the community as the pandemic unfolded finding creative solutions to adapt programming. Throughout the pandemic, I have looked forward to beginning my experience at Emmanuel. I know that especially during these uncertain times, the power of the arts can serve as an outlet for creativity and connection when we may need it most. The programming at Emmanuel offers all participants these opportunities for connection through conversation and creativity making meaning in times of upheaval and transition.  I look forward to engaging with the community and building connections through collaborative learning and art making as I get started at Emmanuel Church.