Sharing the Healing Power of Art

Phillips Educator Carla Freyvogel on the Art and Wellness workshops she and Katya Forrest led for The Pew Charitable Trusts staff.

Last week, Katya and I led two workshops at The Pew Charitable Trusts offices downtown. We were invited by Pew’s Vice President of Organizational Culture and Engagement Makeba Clay (who was previously the Phillips’s Chief Diversity Officer). At Pew, Clay leads initiatives that ensure an inclusive workplace encouraging collaboration and a productive exchange of ideas—and she knew that looking at and talking about art would support that effort. 

While at the Phillips, Clay wrote: “For me, the power of art lies in its transformative ability to embody and reflect stories that connect to the core of our own narratives. Through art we come to understand our own identities on a deeper level; and when done well, art creates a sense of belonging, fostering connections to distant times, people, places, and experiences.” Clay knows that building connections with colleagues, away from data, desks, and deadlines, can enhance productivity. So Katya and I headed downtown to Pew’s headquarters with our massive pink suitcase full of supplies. 

The first workshop, The Beauty of Nature and Well-Being, explored the relationship between art, nature, and emotional well-being through thoughtful reflection, conversation, and hands-on artmaking. We focused on the captivating and expansive collage by Baltimore-based artist Zoe Charleton entitled The Country A Wilderness Unsubdued (2018). In this work, soaring birds emanate from the female form then swarm and scatter upwards. This work celebrates the resilience of the natural world and the strength of women. Close looking and conversation was followed by blind contour self-portraits and expressive collage making. (A contour drawing is a drawing that focuses on a few strong lines expressing the outline of the subject. A blind contour drawing is done with eyes closed—a real challenge!)

The second workshop, Weaving the Past, Present and Future, explored Lucy T. Pettway’s “Bricklayer” quilt from the 1960s to inspire reflection on personal journeys through time. Pettway’s quilt is composed of discarded fabric, each scrap infused with a particular history of use or ownership. In our workshop, strips of marbled paper stood in for fabric.  Participants wrote memories or phrases of empowerment on the strips before weaving them into heavy paper “quilts.”

All who attended were open and game for our time together. Cleansing breaths centered us. Observations were impressively varied, reflecting the group’s broad range of intellectual talent. Tentativeness with art-making was dispelled with humor and mutual support. Connections were made between the artists we’d chosen and the folks who attended. “Non-artists” found their creations appreciated by the others around their table. New-found friends talked quietly while scissors snapped and supplies were shared.

The healing power of art was certainly evident that day. We took time to slow down, look, learn, try something new, get our hands dirty, and ultimately, make some friends. Take that memory back to your desk!