A new project and team that I am very excited to be involved with is Peace Paper, founded by Drew Matott and Margaret Mahan to empower bereaved international communities through engagement in collaborative art processes addressing peaceful reconciliation and positive forward thinking. Through paper, writing, book, and printmaking activities, Peace Paper workshop participants transform significant articles of clothing into works of art which broadcast their stories.
Peace Paper announced its 2012 Tour Schedule last week, which includes a variety of workshops, conferences, teaching, and training across the US (Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington DC, Wisconsin, Ohio, New York , Kansas) as well as international visits in Eskulan, Kosovo, Turkey, India, and more with the project’s amazing creative team.
There are a few art therapy focused offerings for 2012 that Drew, Margaret, and I will be facilitating:
- May 14 – 18- Arts and the Military Conference, Washington, D.C.– As part of The Arts and Military Conference hosted by George Mason University, Drew and I will be offering a five-day papermaking workshop for art therapists and survivors of trauma. This workshop will focus on technical training, practical applications, and hands-on demonstrations of papermaking and implementation for trauma intervention.
- September 6-8- Buckeye Art Therapy Association Symposium, Dublin, Ohio– Margaret, Drew, and I will be in the Columbus area as part of the 2012 BATA Symposium. This will include a full day pre-conference workshop for a limited audience to provide participants an understanding about how the papermaking process can be beneficial with populations as a form of social action and therapeutic transformation in trauma and loss intervention. During the BATA Symposium, we will present a keynote presentation on the topic of art as social action, focusing on lecture and visual content related to utilizing papermaking and creative expression as a cathartic process to give meaning, create transformation, and provide empowerment through releasing and reforming fibers into new stories and new beginnings. A workshop offering entitled, “Expressions for Peace” will invite Symposium attendees on the following day to create their own reflections and expression for peace on handmade paper flags created from Peace Paper’s recent travels.
- October 12 & 13- Kansas Art Therapy Association Conference, Emporia, KS– Margaret, Drew, and I will be conducting a two-day workshop for art therapists, including a lecture highlighting Art as Social Action and Papermaking as Trauma Therapy. This event will also include an exhibit of Peace Paper artworks.
creativity in motion 