Tag Archives: art therapy

Art is therapy.

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Her Caregivers Group blessed Alex on her last day as art-therapy intern at Emmanuel.

I want to thank you all for tuning in each week and allowing me this space to expand upon my learning experiences this year. I have truly loved interning here at Emmanuel in the common art, Boston Warm and Art & Spirituality programs. From my first week, I immediately felt welcome and a part of this amazing community, for which I am deeply grateful. It has been a gift to have been able to enter into the reciprocal love, care, and generosity that takes place in these programs. Continue reading →

Farewell Quilt

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On Wednesday we had our last session of the Caretaker Art Group, which focused on wrapping up the group and reflecting on the learning we had done over the six weeks. We started the session reflecting on the past activities and themes we had explored. I taped up member artwork from the previous weeks on the walls of our meeting room and to serve as a “gallery” of the art created by the group. Seeing all the various art activities from the past 6 sessions displayed together this way,  members began to point out connections between art pieces. Continue reading →

Caretaking

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On Wednesday, we had our second-to-last session for the Caretakers’ Art Group. This session began the process of synthesizing the topics we have discussed in the previous sessions.  We began by thinking back on the art activities we had done and reflecting on the themes we had discussed: self- exploration with the symbolic self-portraits, self-care practices with our self-care zines, and boundaries with our boundary maps. Continue reading →

Acknowledgement of the Moment

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Hello, folks!  As I was out of town last week, I have a shorter update for you.  I want to spend my time today talking about the Art & Spirituality Group, which I haven’t yet talked much about here.  As I’m sure many of you know, Emmanuel Church runs and funds a weekly card-making group in the women’s unit of the Suffolk County House of Correction.  I have had the privilege of helping lead the group every Monday. Continue reading →

Mapping Our Boundaries

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We had our fifth session of the Caretaker Art Group on Wednesday, which focused on defining and exploring boundaries. As the sessions go on, our time together just keeps getting better! Time spent together in sessions over the weeks has created safety and trust amongst the group, which allows members to be more honest and vulnerable in their sharing.  Rather than immediately diving into more complex topics without a sense of safety having been developed, I’ve been intentional about ordering session themes and activities so that they build in their level of introspection as the weeks progress.  Even with this in mind, I was nervous heading into last week’s session dealing with boundaries, because I knew it was a more sensitive topic for folks. Since this was the most psycho-education-heavy group session up to this point, I wanted to be intentional about making that information accessible and digestible. Continue reading →

Artistic-Community Collaboration

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We had a busy week here at common art and Boston Warm! Musicians from the New England Conservatory came to play for us during lunch time, which was beautiful.  The community seemed to really enjoy the live music. As it began, the whole room grew quiet and focused on the music;  some members even danced and swayed along to the melodies. It was a deep breath in the midst of a busy day!

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Untangling

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We had a lot of wonderful art situations happening at common art last Wednesday. The knitting table is still going strong. We had a member’s work get veryyyyy tangled.  Spreading out across the room with our sections of the yarn, about 5 of us helped untangle the ball of yarn.  This funny moment was also a good moment of teamwork! 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.

 

Rainbow Message

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Last week I put on the plastic cover to protect our Rainbow Messages and placed it on the wall in the Parish Hall.  I am deeply grateful that folks at Café Emmanuel allowed me to share my idea. I’m proud of everyone in the group. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I have witnessed how beautiful we are in our community and how much I have grown in the past eight months. Love is the power, and I know we all have it. I felt love sometimes hidden in interactions between people. I know I will still feel it even after we say goodbye. Again, I sincerely appreciate all the kindness and wisdom we have shared. I will use it to nourish my professional expertise in art therapy.
–Wanyi (pronunciation: wan-ee)
Note: Cafe Emmanuel is our weekly, well-being-luncheon-and-entertainment program for LGBTQ+ seniors and their friends. It has become a model of LGBTQ+ eldercare for the rest of the country.