Expressive Arts

Although some of the work at the studio will be project-based (designed to complete a specific project) or technique-based (designed to develop a specific skill), the majority of work in the studio will implement an expressive arts approach.

Expressive arts lives and breathes within the studio environment described and it facilitates so much more.

Through directed play with visual arts, imagery, story, poetry/writing, journaling, meditation, movement and music (use of multiple disciplines is called “intermodal”), the EXPRESSIVE ARTS …

• MAKES ART ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE. / “Low-skill high-sensitivity” is a central reference point for work in the expressive arts. What does it mean? It means that very little skill is required and yet great things happen! Do you ever doodle while talking on the phone? Have you ever written a letter that you’ll never send just to release your feelings? Do you ever get carried away singing in the car or the shower? These simple activities change your frame of mind and help you focus. They may even lift your spirits. Expressive arts’ low-skill high-sensitivity work is just like that. You already have everything you need.

• HELPS YOU KNOW AND CARE FOR YOURSELF. / Making art using an expressive arts approach can help you gain a sense of yourself and it can help you care for yourself. These concepts translate across age levels. Children begin to see themselves as unique and important; they find things within themselves they want to develop further. Adults are reminded that they are individuals with abilities to nurture and needs to fulfill; they can learn to use the arts as “self-care” so that they may have greater energy and focus in caring for others.

• BRINGS INTO FOCUS YOUR OWN VISION. / Making art can begin to answer: How do you see the world? How do you see yourself in it? What is most meaningful in my life? What unique contributions do I make in the lives of others? Exploring your thoughts, emotions and life experiences is a wonderful way to achieve greater clarity about your vision (no matter how old you are) can point you in the right direction or give you inspiration.

• AFFORDS PLAYTIME. / Both children and adults spend too much time “on-task” and feel too much pressure to get everything done. Making art allows you to slow down, breathe, explore and experience the pleasure of being.

• CREATES A SPECIAL PLACE OUTSIDE THE DEMANDS OF “REAL LIFE.” / Classroom routines and ceremonies designate the studio as a place separate from the real world — an escape! People of all ages need this.

• TURNS ART INTO A METAPHOR FOR LIVING MORE DEEPLY. / When we create something that represents a thought, feeling, emotion, challenge or experience, it assumes a form apart from us and gives us an opportunity to look at differently and talk with it. We can learn a lot about ourselves in making art when that art is a metaphor for something else.