Earlier this month Drew Matott and I taught another Peace Paper papermaking, trauma intervention and social action course- this one for Counseling and Art Therapy graduate students at Ursuline College. It was fun to teach together again over 2 days and introduce the 26 students we had to the therapeutic benefits of papermaking.
Students were introduced to the work and travels of Peace Paper, its history and mission to collaborate with the art therapy community, and a variety of examples about how papermaking can be used with many different populations- especially in relationship to trauma, loss, & recovery, as well as bring awareness to issues related to mental health, sexual assault, and bullying.
Students made lots of paper over the course of the workshop– probably at least 150 sheets (!) and experimented with pulp printing, double couching, and book binding. Paper was first made using Peace Paper’s Hollander Beater from meaningful articles of clothing or a piece of fabric that students brought and wanted to transform into paper… as a new beginning or as an act of letting go of something. Students also were introduced to DIY papermaking without the use of a Hollander, to explore adaptable options in the art therapy setting.
What a great couple of days making paper with this group!
If you’re interested in Peace Paper’s trainings and workshops throughout the rest of 2016, check out the tour schedule here. News about Peace Paper and resources for papermaking can be found here.
Ursuline College’s Graduate Art Therapy and Counseling Program, in collaboration with Cuyahoga Community College’s Division of Arts and Sciences, announces its 14th annual arts and healing exhibition at Tri-C Gallery East. This year the exhibition, art. speak. heal: Honoring Veteran Stories will focus on veterans, their families, and the creative arts. The exhibit is also co-sponsored by the Buckeye Art Therapy Association and Cleveland Foundation.
Submitting art work for this exhibition is open until January 23 and 24. More information about entering art can be found here.
I’ve been helping with getting works from the Peace Paper Project for the show and grateful to Drew and Margaret for sending some of the handmade paper made in 2013 Veteran Paper Workshops:
“Veteran Paper Workshop provides veterans with hand papermaking as a vehicle for self-expression and healing. Peace Paper Project facilitates Veteran Paper Workshop in collaboration with Art Therapists and Recreation Therapists to ensure that veterans experience the benefits of hand papermaking in supportive environments. Participants are invited to reconstitute their military uniforms into paper.”
Rachel Mims, a FSU art therapy graduate student and US Army Veteran contributed Peace Paper she made from her military uniforms and then overlayed with pulp printing of images from her training and deployment:
Rachel Mims (2012) Peace Paper: 2003 Deployment
Rachel also submitted her very first art journal, a space that she used to cope with and manage her emotions and experiences related to her Medical Discharge from the Army and coping with life changing injuries she sustained during her service:
I used this art journal to help me get through all the difficult emotions that arose when I realized that my injury was not healing and I would be disabled for the rest of my life; this was the same time that my medical discharge from the Army began. I was supposed to lead by example but being injured meant I could not do most of what was required of me; this was very difficult for me mentally and emotionally – instead of being a great leader I was suddenly worthless (in the eyes of the Army at least!). The journal was my way of dealing with the difficult days and encouraging myself to keep going!”
Rachel Mims Art Journal Pages (2011)
Now in her Art Therapy Internship at FSU, Rachel, alongside with a music therapist will be providing student veterans with free music and art therapy as part of a project she’s helped create called The Veteran Creative Arts Therapy Initiative.
Meredith McMackin, a doctoral student in FSU’s Art Therapy Program, also submitted an image for the Ursuline/Tri-C Exhibit that she created during Peace Paper’s FSU workshop that honored her son who was killed in Iraq in 2007. Her handmade paper was made from the cloth of the dress she bought for his memorial service.
Titled Release, Meredith openly shares this in the piece’s powerful statement:
“…Cutting the dress into small squares, I released them into a vessel of water, which fed into a machine that slowly ground the fibers down to pulp. I felt a sense of ease and peace watching the fibers dissolve the tightness of painful memories and float freely in the cleansing water…. The finished piece symbolizes my son’s release into spirit as well as my own transformation inspired by his self-less gift of life.”
You can read more about Meredith and her commitment to providing workshops at the FSU Veteran’s Center, as well as serving as a trained Peer Mentor for the Tragedies Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) in these two links. Meredith and Rachel are also presenting a workshop on Paper Making as Trauma Intervention for PTSD with Veterans at the 2014 Florida Art Therapy Association in early February. It is inspiring to see the work of Peace Paper continue in the art therapy community!
Much gratitude to Drew & Margaret of Peace Paper, Rachel, and Meredith for contributing art for this exhibition, as well as sharing the personal stories and inspiring work behind the images that will be on display. If you are in the NE Ohio area, the exhibit will be open through March 6 at Tri-C’s Gallery on the Eastern Campus. The Massillon Museum, The National Museum of Veterans Art, the Louis Stokes VA Medical Hospital, and more will also be part of this year’s exhibit.
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In addition to the art exhibition opening on February 13, there will be a free community lecture that evening by David Peacock, Therapeutic Director of Valor Home in Akron, Ohio and on the following day, a panel about the value and availability of arts and healing programs for veterans and families will be offered, as well as expressive therapies workshops.
I’m also honored to be part of the panel discussion to speak more about The Peace Paper Project, as well as offer a creative workshop with Art Therapist Laurel Larson, MPS, ATR who works for Volunteers of America in collaboration with the Cleveland VA providing art therapy services at the Veteran’s Domiciliary in Wade Park.
Our workshop on February 14, In Honor, Service, and Mission: Artist Challenge Coins (ACCs) is inspiredby the tradition of Challenge Coins, commonly used in the military and within service organizations. A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion symbolizing achievement, membership, or recognition, as well as given to increase morale and community among belonging members. In the spirit of Challenge Coins, workshop participants will create and exchange mixed media ACCs as tokens of affirmation, service, strength, gratitude, and encouragement.
My Artist Challenge Coins (ACCs)
There will also be additional expressive therapies workshops to choose from focused on drama, creative writing, storytelling, and healing facilitated by Expressive Therapist Dr. Lisa Peacock of the Women Warrior Project and Vet Art Ohio, as well as Dr. Shianne Eagelheart, LIC, Founder of The Redbird Center for Healing. If you are a professional looking for continuing education, CEUs will be available. To register, download the workshop form here.
I hope if you are in the NE Ohio area, you will join us to attend this special event on February 13 & 14 or visit the exhibit while it is on display.
Earlier this year I was invited by the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) to display some of the art from youth that I work with in individual and group art therapy at the Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center (DVCAC). ODMH showcases quarterly art displays from various programs and consumers from around the state in their Columbus office at the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower.
According to the ODMH website, ODMH “works to assure access to quality mental health services for Ohioans at all levels of need and life stages”. One of ODMH’s core beliefs is a commitment to Trauma Informed Care, as well as the Resiliency of Youth. Check out both of these links on the ODMH website to learn more and access their recommended resources.
The display from DVCAC runs October 1 through December 31 and features art expressions from children & adolescents who have been impacted by domestic violence and are involved in group or individual art therapy through DVCAC’s community-based outreach program. Art on display explores themes related to safety, resilience, emotional expression, domestic violence prevention, and managing trauma stress. Art expressions include collage, drawing, painting, handmade papermaking, paper house making, and mask making. Click on the image below to download a flier [PDF] about the display.
The timing of this exhibit’s start is also aligned with October being recognized as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Look for related DVAM posts to be featured here on Creativity in Motion throughout this month, as well as resources about domestic violence collected on my trauma informed pinterest board.
If you are in the Columbus area over the next three months, take a moment to visit ODMH and this display. My appreciation to the youth who participated through sharing their art, feelings, and a part of their life to empower their own voice, as well as bring awareness to others about their experience.
Inspired by my work with and the mission of Peace Paper, over the last few months I have been incorporating handmade papermaking with some of my art therapy work with youth who have been impacted by trauma and loss.
One way we used the transformative process of papermaking over the last few months included expressing some of the emotional burden of experiencing or witnessing someone being bullied. Youth ages 6-12 created and then tore up images and hurtful messages about bullying to destroy in a blender for pulping. The pulp from this was then used to form new sheets of handmade paper that would become decorated as Peace Flags. The process of destructing the negative & re-constructing it into something positive was really powerful. The Peace Flags also served as a visual reminder and a way to dialogue about how each of us can choose to engage in peaceful and less hurtful behavior with one another.
Below is a short video I created about this process:
If you’re interested in learning more about the papermaking steps I implemented, feel free to check out this DIY Papermaking How-to Sheet that you can save, download, or print out through SlideShare:
Also check out the work of Peace Paper, their papermaking tools, tutorials, and resources at www.peacepaperproject.org.
I just returned back from the 2012 BATA Symposium, Releasing and Reforming: Art Therapy as Social Action in Dublin, Ohioand wanted to share some photos and inspirations from the last few days:
Breaking Rag @ the 2012 BATA Symposium’s Pre Conference Course
Peace Paper was honored to be part of this year’s Symposium and it was great to team up with Drew and Margaret again to introduce to Symposium attendees how papermaking can be used as a form of social action, trauma intervention, and transformation. Thank you to the BATA Board of Directors, BATA President Michele Tarsitano Amato, and Symposium Program Chair Marshae Armante for inviting us and their hospitality. We enjoyed exploring the many ways papermaking can be applied to the art therapy setting, the work of art therapists, and the enthusiasm about these possibilities from attendees.
I also attended a breakout workshop facilitated by Michigan art therapists Margaret McGuinness, MA, MEd, ATR-BC, Kathy Schnur, MA, MEd, ATR-BC, and their colleague Karen Smigelski, MA, LPC about The Power of Words to Promote Change. They introduced us to creating “Taglines” with polymer clay, beads, wire, and other creative embellishments to create messages & affirmations for cultivating kindness, as well as an intervention for responding to/exploring the impact of bullying. The workshop reinforced how our words have power & energy that affect others, emotions, and thoughts. Learn more about the workshop’s concept, their data on the power of words, and The Power of Words to Promote Change workshops being offered through WillowsEdge Counseling and Art Center.
Below is my “Tagline” I created during their workshop:
Tagline: Listen to your inner voice
I also added another spread to my Adventure Gluebook inspired by the Symposium with paper & goodies from last month’s paper stash swap, some items and handmade paper I picked up or received during the Symposium to use as collage stuff, and my SMASH label maker. I think my Tagline could go inside one of the pockets or be attached to one of the pages tabs where it would be more visible. This gluebook is really starting to fill out nicely! I look forward to continuing to work on it.
Over the last week it has been increasingly hot here…with temperatures heating up to 100 degrees at times. It’s finally cooled down a little, but on a couple of these hot days I’ve pretty much remained inside when I could, with thankful thoughts for central air conditioning, crossing my fingers for the power to stay on, and using the time to engage in some art-making!
I’ve been gathering materials we talked about at GMU that could be used for adapting to this process if you don’t own or have access to a Hollander Beater:
Specialty pulps to add to the blended paper mix for strengthening
I used a variety of paper material in making this batch of pulp: magazine photo collage, handwritten content, some extra pulp I saved from this papermaking experience, and added a little bit of specialty pulp: denim, cotton rag, and wool.
The transformation begins!
Using my handmade mould and deckle (stretcher bars & stapled window screen around the frame), I pull a sheet!
Wet paper in need of drying enjoys the extreme heat on our sunroom windows
September 6 will include a pre-conference course: Papermaking as Art Therapy for Trauma Intervention that will provide attendees with 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 this course, participants will be provided with a closer look at the papermaking process as they create handmade sheets of paper from pulp (with a portable Hollander Beater) collected along Peace Paper’s travels, explore concepts related to art as transformation and how this media can be implemented further with various art therapy settings.
On the evening of September 7 there will be a presentation highlighting 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.
Saturday morning September 8 will include an artmaking workshop inspired by concepts and intentions dedicated to social action, peacemaking, and using papermaking as a transformative media for self-expression and making Peace Paper Flags to explore reflections, intentions, and expressions for peace and change using handmade paper created from Peace Paper’s recent travels.
Check out the all the inspiring presentations and offerings at this year’s Symposium here. Registration is now open!
The workshop that Drew and I presented at GMU included presenting considerations important to papermaking, art therapy, and trauma, as well as provided participants the hands on opportunity to take a significant article of their own clothing to learn the transformative process of making it into paper.
Papermaking!
Participants de-constructed/cut up the article of clothing (rag) they brought, had this rag made into pulp, and then learned how to pull and form sheets of their own paper with an introduction to western papermaking. Participants were also introduced to creative sheet formation (layering pulp of different colors), how to make and use screens from a meaningful photograph for pulp painting, and how to bookbind with the paper we made throughout the week.
AMH Papermakers @ GMU! | Photo: Erwin Thamm
The week flew by! Lots of meaningful, thoughtful paper and art was reclaimed and made in Studio 1009. It was an honor to be part of this experience and work with everyone who attended- thank you to all the participants! Another thank you to the VAP team, George Mason University’s School of Art and Design, Helen Fredrick, and Patrick Sargent for being our hosts during this workshop…such wonderful facilities, equipment, inspiration, and support!
You can check out photos from all the amazing workshops, receptions, performances, and AMH events by viewing this slideshow from VAP. You can also learn about upcoming Peace Paper activities & papermaking workshops in 2012, as well as follow Peace Paper’s travels and happenings through Facebook.
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 Schedulelast 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.
I am so looking forward to teaming up with Margaret and Drew again in 2012 for these events. Save the date(s) and stayed tuned for more details on each of these offerings! You can also stay connected to Peace Paper updates and news on Facebook, on the web, and follow the project’s travels through the Peace Paper blog.
Napalm- John LaFalce, Pulp painting on Combat Paper, 2010
The Combat Paper Project story I was interviewed for in February is now available in the June Issue of Historynet’s Vietnam Magazine and can also be viewed on-line here. The very nice six page spread written by Roger Vance features the work and story of CPP, including a special focus about how the project has been helpful for Vietnam Veterans participating in CPP’s veterans workshops.
My contribution to the article included commenting on the therapeutic qualities connected to the process of papermaking, such as its sensory-based, self-soothing, and mindful elements, as well as the powerful opportunity to make meaning through the process of the uniform deconstruction to gain a new perspective about ones experience about military service.
I just returned from spending two days in Madison, Wisconsin to help conduct a papermaking and art therapy workshop with undergraduate art therapy students at Edgewood College with Combat Papermakers Drew Matott and Margaret Mahan. This two day workshop exposed students to the Combat Paper Project, papermaking practice, art therapy, trauma intervention considerations, and using art as a form of self-transformation. Students engaged in break out groups, art-making, writing exercises, and hand-ons demonstrations to learn more about how papermaking can help the veteran community cope with emotions and experiences connected to military life.
Thanks to Janice Havlena for bringing us to the Edgewood College campus to work with her art therapy students and all the students who attended throughout these two days! Thank you to Edgewood College’s Art Department, Edgewood College Art Therapy Students (ECATS), EPB. and the School of Integrative Studies who sponsored this event.
Combat Paper Project @ Edgewood College March 24-25, 2011
Drew Matott talking to students during the Thursday night lecture
Papermaking Process & Art Therapy Lecture-March 24, 2011
Edgewood students waiting for the lecture to start
Students check out some of the Combat Paper Art
Margaret Mahan’s print on Combat Paper with one of her poems
Students cutting uniform rag
Drew Matott explains the history of papermaking to students
Cut up rag ready for pulping
Students watch Drew’s demonstration with putting the rag into the beater for pulping
Rag going into the Hollander beater for pulping
Pulp!
Program Director Janice Havlena creating paper
Students spent time making art & writing about art as transformation, as well as watching Art Therapy Without Border’s short film about papermaking as a form of reclamation
Margaret spent time with students processing their experience through a writing excercise
creativity in motion 
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