July 27, 2022 – “It honestly feels like Christmas when someone creates something new and I get to see it. I love this group!” And that super-positive statement didn’t even come from our Friends of Guest House clients who created their “Guiding Word” canvases – it came from our art teacher Alison McHugh!
“They’re creating something never before seen in the history of the Universe. That’s powerful and I get to witness it,” Alison continued. “[It’s] awesome to be a small part of the journey for these women. I’m humbled and grateful….I definitely get more than I give when I work with this group. They filled me right to overflowing!!” Alison continued on a Facebook post.
Can we just tell you how happy it makes US to know our art team loves what they do so much? And what about our clients? Can you just feel the joy and power? What word guides YOU?
If “Take me as I am” was the first line of a poem and your challenge was to complete it, what would you say? Alli and Fran and our other Friends of Guest House clients left it all on the court! As always, they were honest and vulnerable and completely fearless in sharing what was on their souls. And they began reading their poems aloud to the rest of the class, unprompted by our Heard spoken word artist C. Thomas. “You WILL NOT tell me poetry doesn’t help to find your voice,” C. wrote on Facebook. So right you are, C.!
“Everything said during the class left a huge impact on my heart. I heard so many things today that we said so perfectly. I want this class more,” wrote one of our students in a class evaluation.
July 20 – 2022: Another win for our artist Alison McHugh today – scrapbooking with the residents of Friends of Guest House! Alison is a scrapbooking and paper craft fiend, and she was determined that our Friends of Guest House friends were as well! And success! As you can see from these happy faces (even the masked ones), everyone had a fabulous time. “SO MUCH FUN” Alison told me later. See what bringing creativity, self expression, and joy to people does? Does it get better? We don’t think so!
June 29, 2022: There’s nothing with paper that our art teacher and paper crafter fan Alison McHugh can’t do, so we knew when we sent her off to Casa Chirilagua for an afternoon with their kids, it would be amazing. It’s a double win when our Heard art teachers have as much fun as the people we work with! Alison sure had fun at Casa Chirilagua on Wednesday, and so did the kids. And isn’t the “I Am” box a great idea?
Afterwards Alison wrote to us: “These kids were amazing and we had SO MUCH fun! We made ‘I Am’ boxes, where they wrote/drew about all of the great things they are on the inside. I practiced my budding Spanish speaking skills and we drew and colored and laughed. So fun. Thank you!”
What do you get when you mix our art teacher Sharmila with dozens of elementary school kids from Casa Chirilagua? Why, puppets and sculptures and imagination, oh my! So much to share here! Where to start? Let’s start with Alberto Giacometti, one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century whose work was particularly influenced by Cubism and Surrealism styles. Giacometti was best known for the bronze sculptures of tall, thin human figures, made between 1945 to 1960. Sharmila introduced him to the Casa Chirilagua kids, gave them some pipe cleaners (tall and thin, get it?) and off they went! We just had to share the octopus video, and we love how proud she was of her creation. And the earrings, of course. One must be properly accessorized.
Puppets were on the docket the second week! It’s amazing what kids can create with paper bags, crayons, glue, and a free imagination. Love the blue eyeshadow and eyelashes on the puppet below!
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