It’s not therapy – but it is very therapeutic.
It’s not for artists – but makes artists out of everyone.
It’s not spiritual – but it is very soul-stirring.
It’s one of those things, like sex, god and chocolate that
you have to experience before you really get it.
I’m talking about my encounter this summer with “Expressive
Arts”. This label refers to a way - or really a whole bunch of ways - of
engaging individuals and groups in important questions.
What i love about it is that it goes “beyond verbal” in its
invitation to play with the things that we carry around deep in our souls. So
much of my work and training as clergy and community organizer is based on
words – spoken and written. The Expressive Arts approach lifts me into a whole
other world of expression.
Or maybe i should say – it takes me down a notch. Instructor
Fay
Wilkinson teaches from the floor. She embodies the invitation to “get down
to it”. The space she creates with her smile, her language, her dress, her
absolute love for the work of play - is enchanting.
Her course is an instruction in the art of crafting a safe
and inspiring place for adults to tap into their innate creativity. Over the
span of five days we are invited to first dip our toes in the water. Then we
splash about a bit – getting each other wet. And before it’s all over - we’ve
experienced the rush of fearful exhilaration – going just a bit beyond our
comfort zones – swimming in the deep end.
“Wow, we were in over our heads and didn’t drown and didn’t
make fools of ourselves, and DID really enjoy the process of using the arts to
express what words fail to say.”
Fay’s classroom is better equipped than the average
kindergarten. The range of paints, pastels, paper, clay, wire, feathers,
percussion instruments, beads, masks, markers, stones and don’t forget all the
sparklies - are only surpassed by Fay’s own suggestions for how to use them.
“It’s not about serving the art.” she repeats the mantra
often “It’s about the art serving you.” Each one of us has to come to grips
with our own creative demons. For me – it’s quieting the inner judge’s
persistent questions about whether what I’m creating is worthy, good/bad, or artistic
enough.
The place I’m heading for is being able to let the music of
my own inner creative freedom drown out such silly questions. More and more I enter
into the creative process with the joy of discovery – leaving expectations
behind. It is in this place that what’s hidden from my so-so-so rational mind - can emerge, surprise,
and show me what my guts already know.
Fay suggests someone might like to take one of her 4’x6’
posterpapers and fill it. This idea speaks to me and I take her best pastels
and with both hands scrawl colours onto the paper pinned to a wall. The
physical energy it requires stirs cellular memories into my bloodstream.
In a mysterious alchemy inner emotions pour themselves out
into the world through the freedom of colours colliding, crossing, smearing -
saying what long forgotten dreams scream and shout. I let it come. I let it go.
I love it. I hate it. It scares me. It amuses me. I let what’s caged out for a
romp.
But that’s just me. Others are quietly piecing together
gentle hopes and forever moments of tender healing. There is no right or wrong
way to do it – only the invitation to enter into the process with open heart
and explore what emerges.
Then we shift. And this is the key to this approach. We drop
what we’ve made – the drawing, the 3D sculpture “thing”, the splash of paints
on paper, and go into a different group exercise. Then after some gestation
time – maybe the next day – we pick up what we’ve done and invite our small
group members to express what they see, feel, or hear in each of our pieces –
without words.
My two teammates responded to my oversized scrawlings with a
sketch from one, and a sound & body response from another. Their offerings
brought tears to my eyes. (i told you – you had to be there) Putting deep
feeling onto the page was freeing. Receiving the responses offered - was a
healing moment for me.
Nobody in the group of twelve participants left without some
sense of surprise and encouragement. Each participant shared their surprises.
We were surprised about what we were willing to risk – and what we discovered
about our own journey. We were encouraged to not only keep working at the
playing, but to find opportunities to engage people’s hearts in these ways -
beneath the radar of the rational.
The five days offered literally dozens of ideas for how to
use “art” in different settings for different reasons. This course is the tip of the iceberg.
There’s a dozen more courses on offer at Fleming’s Haliburton
School of the Arts with a certificate available for those interested in
professional accreditation.
Program Highlights: (from the Fleming website)
Expressive Arts
offer people of all ages the opportunity to express themselves through art,
craft, writing, music, movement, and narrative arts.Getting through life's challenges and crossroads is often difficult. While traditional therapies and counseling are helpful, sometimes at these moments we need to tap into our deepest creative self to deal with our feelings and emotions. Fleming's Ontario Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts is a helpful addition to the counseling, teaching, or ministry you currently offer others. As a teacher, artist, nurse, social worker, minister, or someone in a caring profession, you will benefit from knowing how to facilitate the development and transformation of the people in your care, through expressive arts.
You will explore your own creativity and learn how to design and deliver expressive arts programming to people in a variety of circumstances. In addition, you will examine the theoretical and practical approaches to expressive arts as therapy, and learn how to protect yourself from burnout.
I can’t wait to use these practices to stir creativity in
meetings where we hit the same old walls; in worship where we hope to engage
hearts and not only minds, and in workshops where learning gets enhanced by the
playful spirit of discovery.
Our first opportunity is this Sunday afternoon. A small
group of us will give it a spin… I’ll paint you a picture of what happens.
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