Hurricane Helene left our school systems and families scrambling to meet physical, mental, and emotional needs for students. One strategy RiverLink used to provide support for students was the development of therapeutic, nature-based art programs for afterschool students. Students painted on natural canvases like downed wood, made wind chimes using pressed flowers from the River Arts District, and wove wreaths of pine from fallen trees. This work was made possible by the Arts Build Community Grant, and we extend our tremendous gratitude to the ArtsAVL Foundation for this support.
What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy can help students process trauma in non-verbal ways. In the 1930s, psychologist, educator and writer Margaret Naumburg developed “dynamically oriented art therapy”, which centered on the projection of unconscious material through free-form artmaking, which allowed participants to process emotions inaccessible through other forms of therapy. Her research was particularly effective for children, who didn’t have the language to express what they were experiencing following traumatic events. Core principles of art therapy include non-verbal expression, safety and structure, and empowerment and control.
In art therapy, children can express themselves across multiple mediums, such as guided imagery, drawing, painting, sculpting, textile art, dance and movement, and sound therapy. Psychologists have also studied the use of art therapy for children following natural disasters, such as a case study involving students from Katrina where students personified and drew “Katrina” as a character, wrote letters to her expressing their grief, and drew their safe spaces from the storm. Benefits of art therapy include improvement in mental health symptoms, teaching emotional regulation and coping skills, and fostering resilience.
Art Therapy in our Afterschool Programs
In the weeks following the storm, our staff researched art-therapy for children who have experienced natural disasters, and developed nature-based art lesson plans. We painted “safe spaces” from the storm on logs from fallen trees, with students depicting images of themselves in their peer support groups, and hiding in their homes. We personified the storm, with students drawing animated forces of nature, with lightning bolt arms and bodies made of tree trunks, wreaking havoc on neighborhoods. We went out to the woods on campuses, and collected pine needles and cones for colleges and wreaths. Students painted individual sections of the French Broad River before and after the storm, and taped them together in a tapestry.
If you are interested in doing nature-based art projects with your children, we encourage you to check out this blog. We look forward to exploring social and emotional learning through the arts, as well as its mental health benefits for students. Thank you again to ArtsAVL for funding our work in the arts!