Not Just For Art’s Sake

Earlier this summer we announced a handful of art classes that we’d be sponsoring as part of the City of Providence’s Summer Day Camp at the Armand E. Batastini, Jr. Recreational Center. Our very own executive director, Ruth Wartenberg, partnered with friend and artist/health and wellness coach, Joanna Elizabeth Read, to teach the classes. The results were a resounding success for both the students and the teachers themselves. “I think it’s been a cool experience for the kids… to be getting art instruction from a real, live, working, breathing artist,” Wartenberg said. “I can’t say that I’ve ever had that opportunity.”

The intention was to provide a thought-provoking and engaging art class that would not only provide some colorful, fun and educational entertainment for the students, but also to show them how artistic expression can be a useful tool in their lives. “I just know, as a therapist when it comes to healthy coping skills, how important artistic expression is,” Wartenberg said.

In her experience as a school therapist and social worker, Wartenberg has found that engaging students in creative activity, whether it be coloring or playing with kinetic sand etc., alleviates some of their internal distress and/or anxiety. “Whether or not children have special needs, they can connect to art as a healthy coping strategy when they feel sad, when they’re anxious, when they’re angry, when they’re irritated,” she said.

Read also drew from her background as a Shri yoga instructor and practitioner to add an additional layer to the therapeutic aspect of these classes. She began each session with a mindfulness exercise that started with physical motion and talking about what they would be doing during class. She then transitioned into breathing exercises to help the students calm their inner voice and center themselves on the moment, which helps them express themselves more freely. “It feels really important for me to just begin the classes with the deep breathing, with slowing down and reminding them what’s actually happening and how important it is,” Read said. “There’s no greater tool.”

Read then extended the breathing exercises into blowing air through straws to move different colors of ink across paper; seeing how different breathing styles can create different shapes and patterns. The kids were then given scissors and glue to cut up the straws and make their own works of art.

Both Read and Wartenberg agreed that their approach to these art classes differed sharply from the rigid structure of typical grade-school art classes; alleviating the pressure of a graded and predetermined art curriculum. This allowed the students to tune into their personal artistic wavelength and find out what that expression, whatever it may be, really means to themselves. “It doesn’t have to be coloring inside the lines,” Read said. “[It’s] coaching them through connecting with something inside of them that just wants to come out and be.”

With that, Read and Wartenberg were dazzled by the reactions they got from different students. Upon seeing one of Read’s own works during the first class, one student inquired as to how much she charged for one of her paintings; a question Read took as a sign of his entrepreneurial spirit. Another student started making clay shapes of food and beverages; tapping into her developing interest in pursuing culinary arts. “There is just so much opportunity that’s available,” Read said, “if only a pathway is provided that sort of points towards ‘hey, you can be a maker, you can sell your stuff online - even if it’s just poetry or spoken word.’”

Not only did the students find their own artistic voice, but it helped them to connect with each other as well. Some students collaborated freely while others simply expressed admiration for each other’s work. But not everyone responds to such group settings the same way, as Read and Wartenberg found out during the first class. One student, whom we’ll refer to as “Sam” to protect his identity, exhibited some behavioral issues that prompted the assistant director of the recreational center to question whether he should participate in the second class. Recognizing this as an opportunity to throw off the shackles of traditional exclusionary discipline, Wartenberg insisted that Sam remain in class. “He needs to be here probably more than any other kid,” she said. “We want to embrace him and bring him into the fold and have him be a leader.”

Wartenberg and Read asked Sam if he would like to help them pass out materials, an assignment he readily agreed to do. “He was very, very eager to do it,” Wartenberg said, “[he] took it very seriously.” Sam became more engaging and seemed proud of the fact that other kids were offering to help complete the task he was the first to be assigned to. Sam, who had been aggressive towards another student during the first class and had expressed frustration that his artwork was not as good as the others, became a functioning member of the group who showed no aggression during the second class.

Sam’s story echoes that of many of the students Wartenberg has worked with in her career, and it underscores the importance of engaging with (and not just disciplining) students who may or may not have behavioral issues, those who are from broken homes or children of families who are struggling. It’s the reason we sponsor events such as these art classes; not just to provide a place for students to spend their extracurricular time, but a way to try and make a difference in a kid’s life - even if it just means giving them a space to express themselves and work through their internal struggles. “Just having spaces and places for children to feel seen, like, truly seen and celebrated in their differences in their individual self expression,” Read said.

“We can’t always make it possible for them to do those things at home,” Wartenberg agreed, “but we can at least give them tastes of it in the camp, or in my office, or make them an art kit that they can use at home.”

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