Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Event That Took Over My Life

This last Thursday, we finally had the event that has been taking over my life for the last month and a half - the exhibit of art therapy for the non-profit I work for.

I envisioned this event a few months ago, and pitched it to a less-than-enthusiastic boss who was jaded by previous fundraising attempts. But I moved forward with it anyway.

Planning an event that was only a few months away, I basically did the whole thing myself, minus the art work. Luckily, I had a few amazing therapists helping me generate art work for the event and piecing everything together.

In the end, it was a pretty fantastic event. It was held at the Art Sanctuary, a local gallery and art space that focuses on African-American art. It was a beautiful space and the team there was a dream to work with. We had a great turn out and even the weather remained nice. My friend Nissa was in town and was even able to deal with some of the crap at the event so I could play hostess.

Everything went smoother than imagined and we even got a few Philadelphia papers to report on the event, including my own City Paper!

Anyway, on to the images....



The nice outdoor space that people loved. 




The outline was done by a child who had recently lost his father. When he was asked to create a self-portrait, this is all he did. He stopped with the outline that is reminiscent of a chalk outline on a crime scene. 


Amazing painting done by adolescent girl about her loss and her mother's aid through it all. That's her mom's hand sewing up the broken heart. Amazing. 



T-shirt made in adolescent therapy group with angel wings and "Peace In Paradise" - Islamic R.I.P. 


Our silent auction items



That's my back as I watch our Executive Director introduce the therapist. 


Our child therapist explains art therapy and trauma therapy to the audience. 


Our adolescent therapist, her client and her client's painting which represents the good times and the bad. 


---

All in all, a great success. I'll try and remember to post when the newspaper articles come out! 

No comments:

Post a Comment