The benefits of art on our health have been known for a long time. Art allows us to express our emotions, to dream, to share our ideas and to tell our story.
Art therapy is an approach that encourages the expression of thoughts and feelings that are difficult to communicate otherwise. This approach uses art (drawing, painting, sculpture, music, etc.) as a means of healing and psychological healing. Art therapy also contributes to stress reduction and better self-knowledge through introspection.
Did you know …?
Students who participate in arts activities are more likely to succeed and have better academic results.
Here are some other interesting facts about the benefits of art on our society published by the Réseau réussite Montréal :
- “Students who participate in art activities have higher self-esteem.”
- “Immigrants who have access to cultural activities strengthen their sense of belonging.”
- “Among underprivileged students, those who are introduced to art are 5X less likely to drop out.”
Art therapy mentoring with Say Ça!
On Saturday, September 19, 2020, the Say It! community will gather around a mentoring activity on art.
Natascha offers students and tutors a playful art mentoring session entitled “What’s on my mind? “A large sheet of drawing paper and a pencil are all that is needed for this little introspection exercise.
First of all, we quickly draw a large face in profile taking all the surface of the sheet by leaving a large empty part at the place of the hair.
It is then a question of adding in this part as many drawings, images, symbols, words coming directly out of our head and really coming from all our thoughts.
To continue, we need to add a “pattern” to map our thoughts as to figure the convolutions of the brain and decorate this pattern artistically. If we want, we can color his finalized work with colored pencils.
Everyone participated with pleasure, young and old, and was able to put and project on the sheet their ideas, their desires, their questions about the future, their doubts, their universe, their projects, their emotions…. Everyone, solicited by Natasha, was kind enough to share their drawing with all the participants or chose to keep it for themselves. The important thing is to have taken part in the exercise.
Practicing art therapy at home
If after reading this article you are intrigued by art therapy, we invite you to do a similar exercise at home. You can do it alone or with your family.
Feel free to send us a picture of your drawing or tell us how you found your art therapy experience.
Say Ça! will be back soon with more arts and cultural activities. Keep an eye out!
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This activity was proposed during a group workshop organized by our organization Say Ça! Every Saturday, we offer tutoring sessions in English and French followed by a group workshop on different topics: gardening, photography, video games, origami and much more.
If you would like us to organize a workshop session around a specific activity or topic, do not hesitate to send us a message via the contact form.