This week at common art the unexpected departure of one of our beloved community members was announced. We were told that he had found a job and had just moved to start it. It was his wish to leave without telling many people and to leave no contact information. While I have only been at the program now for two months, I felt this loss greatly. He had worked as our barista, our food liaison, if you will. He served the community coffee and meals with a smile and could often be heard laughing.
Musings from the Margins
Pulling in New Participants
This week went smoothly. Monday at the prison, I chose to have the women attending Art & Spirituality share a word they felt drawn to. I spent the evening writing them in script. I am thinking that I may add more words over time to build some kind of collage of them. I think it would be nice to set it up each week for the women to see, especially as it grows with more words.
A Rainbow of People
This week started off really well with my Monday group at the prison. For the opening I suggested the group share a color that we could feel connected to that day. It was an unusually small group, and so, before everyone shared their colors, I had an idea. I wrote down each color mentioned and then, as I sat with the women chatting, I colored a piece of paper in a gradient of the colors and cut it into strips to make little bookmarks. Before making the gradient, I had found each color and then laid them out in an order that looked nice. While doing this and chatting with the women, I made sure to notice their process and reflect it back to them. The two women mentioned that this time was very calming and quiet for them and that just being there felt therapeutic.
Engaging Participants
This week at Boston Warm was slower. Everyone seemed a little tired and unmotivated, which made it difficult to get them to feel engaged. On Monday, however, at the Suffolk House of Corrections program on art and spirituality, I had some positive interactions that gave me a glimpse of the small ways I could be a positive presence at my sites. Continue reading
The Healing Power of Art
We welcome Marielle Carpentier, our art-therapy intern from Leslie University, who will post about her experiences with common art in the coming year. She writes about her first day here, September 29.
This week I had the great opportunity to lead a table at common art in doing collage. One major attraction of the day was painting pumpkins, which was also a great success. I was worried that the excitement of the pumpkins would mean that I wouldn’t be working with many people, but was happily surprised by how many people joined me. A big part of the success was thanks to artist-in-residence, Allie, for sourcing great magazines and stamps. Often with collage, interest and success can come down to what kind of images are available. I found a big reason the collage table was successful was because people could find images that they could relate to or that inspired them. Once these images are found, the excitement to create something with them begins. I found it interesting to see what inspired each person who came to my table. Some were excited by the detailed stamps, some the images of nature, and some the words in the newspapers. Even with the exciting (and very successful) pumpkin painting, I was so happy to have many people interested in engaging in collage.
Saying Goodbye
Saying goodbye is never easy to do, yet it is something that I have been preparing for over the course of the semester as I knew my time at common art would be ending. It was time to begin bringing closure in these meaningful connections that have blossomed over the last nine months. It feels as though I have been coming to common art both for years and for only days. There has been a comforting familiarity walking in and being greeted at common art by community members eager to get started. On the other hand, each week has been full of surprises as I consistently learned new things.
Painted with Love
Over the last few weeks my time at common art has began to wrap up as I prepare for the end of my internship. It feels like the past month has gone by so fast and has been filled with countless learning opportunities.
A Narrative Journey
Closing out this second part of my last post, I shall discuss here the events of Holy Week. Following the Holy Week play “The Death of Jesus Christ” there was still one big event I had to prepare for, a Stations of the Cross art exhibit at MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always). This was planned as a walk-through exhibit to be held in the Sanctuary at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul on Good Friday.
Building a City in One Day
The last few weeks have been full of activity leading up to Holy Week at common cathedral and MANNA. Holy Week held many opportunities for the community to engage in creative activities, so there was a lot for me to learn. I spent the majority of my time in the last two weeks working with community members on two special projects, one of which I will discuss in this blog post. The second will be detailed in my next blog post.
For the first project, I led community members at common art in painting a large backdrop for a community member’s Easter play, which he wrote at MANNA and enacted with help from Amanda Ludeking. This was such a lovely opportunity to collaborate across the programs and to bring art and drama therapy together for the community. 
Since it was my first time painting pieces for a set, for the sake of time and in order to include more painters, I sketched out the setting of Jerusalem on large white paper ahead of time. Then community members worked together to paint the scene with newly-returned acrylic paints. I worked with the playwright and community members to pick colors for each section of the painting.
Since it was my first time painting pieces for a set, for the sake of time and in order to include more painters, I sketched out the setting of Jerusalem on large white paper ahead of time. Then community members worked together to paint the scene with newly-returned acrylic paints. I worked with the playwright and community members to pick colors for each section of the painting.Big Impact of Small Pieces
Over the last few weeks at common art we have been thoughtfully preparing as we began to increase the number of participants and the art materials we can utilize in the parish hall. This has brought much excitement and joy to the place as we are ready to bring back the beloved acrylic paints!