| CCAT Board 2008 at January meeting.
l-r: Cynthia Halliday, Tina Dungan,
Kaylin Noblin, Suzanne Lovell, Renee
Conrad, Jane Vogel-Riley. |
New CCAT office. Brookwood Art Institute,
1030 2nd St. Santa Rosa, Ca. 95404.
Setting up shop: Kaylin Noblin and
Tina Dungan. |
The
theme for the January, 2008 General
Meeting of NorCATA (Northern California
Art Therapy Association) at Fort
Mason was Creative Arts Therapies
in After School Settings. This Project
is funded through Grants from Target
and the Sonoma County Foundation.
Its aim is to identify and work
with those students who have been
identified as benefiting from a
program that increases self expression
while promoting skills in social
development.
A warm welcome greeted our panel
as members of CCAT presented information
about how Art Therapists work in public
schools. The Panel consisted of Kaylin
Noblin, Jane Vogel Riley, Cynthia
Halliday and me, Renee Conrad.
After a brief discussion, we invited
the group to participate in an activity
from the curriculum in our book The
Purple Apple. The group of around
thirty attendees were offered a
wide variety of art materials and
asked to create a tree house. Using
twigs and branches ofall sizes,
participants were delighted to choose
from an abundance of natural materials,
ribbons, yarn, clay, cardboard boxes
and mixed media. Lovely creations
emerged as those present reflected
upon creating a representation of
a creative safe place in a tree that
assisted the creator in feeling happy,
healthy safe and dreamy.
After the
creations were displayed around the
room, an artist's walk enabled everyone
to focus on the lovely work that had
been produced. Music accompanled us
on the walk as we followed flautist/Art
Therapist, Roberta Walker, around
to see the artistic creations! Participants
expressed pleasure in being given
the rare opportunity to do their own
art and express themselves freely.
For more information about our
Project you can call, write or e
mail me at the following addresses:
Renee Conrad, Director
Creative Arts in Education Project
CCAT
1030 Second St.
Santa Rosa, CA, 95404
(707) 578-1064
reneeconrad@comcast.net |
