Welcome to the Online Roundup where we highlight some of the more popular & interesting stories and websites related to art and art therapy around the web. We will continue to post art therapy news on twitter as well, but hopefully this proves useful for those of you that prefer blog posts and/or would rather not sign up for something like twitter. Enjoy!
Art Therapy in the News
Touching story of a girl’s heart failing, needing transplant & art therapy providing a lift.
It was May 12 when, following a lifesaving diagnosis by pediatrician Raghu Kassety of OSF Medical Group, Faith was airlifted to Milwaukee Children’s Hospital. Her heart, which had functioned only with the help of a pacemaker since shortly after her birth, was no longer able to keep its rhythm. It was functioning at only 40 percent capacity now, Dr. Kassety relayed the bad news: Faith’s heart was failing. She would need a heart transplant in order to survive…Read More
Great story of armless, legless girl aided by dog & helping child with special needs via art therapy.
A special teenager decided she wanted to go to college and have a normal life. And even though she was born without arms and legs, she says once you get to know her, you will see she is not missing anything at all…Read More
22yr old is C5-6 quadriplegic participated in art therapy, art therapist plays key role, great story.
Davis, 22, is a C5-6 quadriplegic. “That means that I have use of my arms but not my fingers. I can move my wrists, but I don’t have any dexterity with my hands,” she said. As a young student, she was drawn to art. “I’ve always painted. I guess it was in high school that I started producing. I took art class in high school, and that’s when it really came out, doing it in my spare time, and more than what was required by my class,” she said…Read More
Worry Dolls, Posters, Masks and Mandalas Help Kids Cope via art therapy.
Jannika Meier was thrilled to learn about the free children’s art course offered through UC Davis Cancer Center. However, she admits to being a little reticent to enroll her kids after learning that “therapy” was a key part of the class…Read More
Art therapy for boys beneficial, specifically art journalling.
It’s not uncommon for Cobourg art therapist Terry Marrocco to see children develop better coping skills through art. After a study she did a study last year based on separate girls’ and boys’ art journalling groups at the Cobourg Public Library, she discovered that this kind of activity is especially beneficial for boys. With help from library chief executive officer Donna Bright, she has secured a one-time grant through the Ontario Ministry of Culture for an October series of workshops called Supporting Your Child At Recess: Help and Creativity For Boys…Read More
Art therapy helps children cope with illness/death of a sibling.
Beth and Brad Besner of Davie are still struggling with grief over the loss of their son Ian, who died 3 ½ years ago at age 11 of complications from leukemia. But they have more than their own heartache to deal with. Their sons Grant, now 12, and Noah, 10, are also trying to make sense of the death of their big brother…Read More
Encouraging the arts promotes child development.
Whether your child becomes a world-renowned artist or displays no artistic inclination at all, just exposing your kids to the visual and performing arts from their infancy strengthens creativity and helps them with problem solving skills, according to Guam art therapist Kathryn Davis-Finch…Read More
Journal found that art therapy reduces symptoms like depression & anxiety in cancer patients…Read More
Student talks about art therapy, dance & her experience in Thailand…Read More
Art therapy & the arts allow Alzheimer’s patients to live in the moment.
It’s not often Blackwell will tell you forgetting is a good thing. He has Alzheimer’s disease, a memory-robbing illness that pushed the former CIA analyst into early retirement, and these days makes him forget the words to his favorite church hymns and the name of the bird he just photographed. But when he’s behind the lens of his camera, it’s his disease he forgets…Read More
The power of art therapy, music therapy & fight against cancer.
Lisa White first realized the therapeutic power of music in 1996 when her son, Gabe, was diagnosed with leukemia. Starting at the age of two, Gabe underwent 38 months of treatment. “He started using music a lot on his own to calm himself down,” White recalls. Gabe’s CD of choice was White Ladder by David Gray; he’d listen to it before bed to help himself get to sleep. “He’ll be ten years off treatment next month,” White says, “and we all still listen to it when we’re tired.” Read More
NBA all-star helps displaced and orphaned children in Darfur by using drawing and art therapy.
Somali rapper/singer K’Naan penned these words about his east African homeland to try to give Westerners some perspective on not only his country, but also certain others that make up the world’s second-largest continent. Unlike with 50’s, there’s no glorification of the widespread violence in K’Naan’s home in his lyrics. Nope—coming from where villages are pillaged, women are raped, and machetes and machine guns are dividing limbs and families isn’t a badge of honor. It’s a problem that we should all become aware of. Read More
Art therapy helps enable children suffering from trauma of Israeli occupation in Palestine.
Many who work with children who have experienced traumatic events, such as child psychologists, believe it is crucial for children to express their feelings about those events if they are to recover from their suffering. Art is a way for children to communicate the full range of emotions, and one of the most important ways to express feelings of anger, pain and fear. Child psychologists have found that art therapy works to enable children to show in nonverbal ways what they have experienced and to deal with traumatic events in their lives. Read More
Confronting their demons: Art therapy helps veterans deal with traumatic experiences.
Haunted by images of destruction, they now channel their energy to create something that brings them and others peace of mind. For some, it’s a way to distract them from the nightmare of past events; for others, it’s the only solid representation of the realities they faced. Read More
Connecting cultures, one art project at a time. GW art therapy grad program is one of a kind.
In the midst of a bustling city in India, with streets full of cars, rickshaws and even cows, 15 GW graduate students washed away cultural and linguistic barriers this summer with little more than paint, brushes, chalk and a passion for the visual arts and psychology. For the past two summers, GW’s art therapy graduate program has distinguished itself as the only one of its kind in the country to send students abroad as part of a three-week summer course called “International Social and Cultural Art Therapy.” This year, the program traveled to India. Read More
Art-related
- Great story & images: Artist with 12 personalities, each paints different picture. Read More
- Alzheimer’s art creates lasting memories. Read More
- A look at new paintings by Bob Dylan. Read More
- Art saves woman with mental illness. Read More
Just For Fun
- Art therapy & phototherapy: therapist explores why you choose to share certain photos. Read More
- Have you seen this crazy bathroom in London? Could you go? See pics
- love is patient – amazing interactive photography project! Check it out
- Scientists use gene therapy 2 cure monkeys of color blindness (most common genetic disorder in people). Read More
- Music therapy for strung-out Brits. Read More
- Some potentially great news on the cancer front. Read More
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