Art Empowerment Program at The Women's Safe House
In 2021, I created a trauma-informed art program with survivors of domestic and sexual assault at The Women's Safe House in collaboration with John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri. Through bimonthly art nights, high school students from JBS engage with children ages 5 - 16 to encourage creativity and healing through art making. I facilitate a separate art program with the women at TWSH which runs concurrently with the art night for kids. Generous grants provided by Arts and Education Council (the Arts and Healing Initiative Grant) as well as the Will Flores Fund help sustain this program. Amazing JBS student leaders Eva and Carolina proposed the summer art camp in 2023 which is funded again for the summer of 2024.
Highlights of the last three years include - an annual art exhibition by TWSH residents at a local coffee shop as well as JBS, field trips to the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Burroughs printshop and art studio, and distributing art kits to residents. The biggest highlight for me continues to be the joy and peace residents experience and share when creating art.