From the Heart Presents: Feeling Artful
Saturday, April 20th was the perfect sunny spring day for Feeling Artful, From the Heart: Creative expressions in mental wellness’ third event, to take place at the beautiful New Spire Arts. Inspired by the movie Inside Out, Feeling Artful created a safe and supportive place to encourage open conversations about emotions and provide opportunities for our youth to creatively express themselves. Families flooded the doors and were greeted with smiling faces and helpful community resources from the Asian American Center of Frederick, Community of Grace Organization, Living Well Youth Works, Frederick Children’s Chorus, Elixir Dance and Fitness LLC, Lanai Monroe Thee Herbal Butterfly, and Unique Devotions. The energetic Zariah Paris was the MC for the afternoon, even bringing out Buddy, the Feeling Artful mascot! Buddy rocks a skeleton t-shirt to represent that though we all experience our feelings differently, we all look the same underneath.
Dr. Laura Sherwood, Founder of Transformative Arts Project, holds an indestructible passion for the arts and mental wellness, and it shows. Her diligent and compassionate efforts to create Feeling Artful’s magical atmosphere, one where family and friends could come to explore and express their emotions together through art, came to the surface as participants listened to and celebrated one another.
To begin the artful afternoon, coloring pages of faces expressing various emotions and patterns packed the tables. Everyone enjoyed coloring their own faces of emotions to send the message that we all feel and express our emotions differently; and that’s perfectly okay. The creative acrylic tiles designed by students at Hillcrest and Butterfly Elementary, where Dr. Sherwood recently visited, were showcased. Later that afternoon, all attendees had the chance to design their own! These tiles will be put together to create a powerful, emotional mosaic displayed at the Delaplaine Arts Center in June.
While some participants engaged in the coloring activities and admired the art exhibit, others grabbed juicy burgers, mac and cheese, decadent brownies, cupcakes, and more from Chef Trini at Taste of the Island. De-lish!
Talented and courageous youth took the stage as they portrayed each emotion from Inside Out:
Joy was portrayed by a reading from Jade, and a dance performance by Elixir Dance
Elixir Dance portrayed Love with a dance show
Philip portrayed Sadness by singing “Over the Rainbow”
Judah portrayed Anger with a drum performance titled “Rhythm Rage” (Image below)
Unique Devotions portrayed Fear with a dance titled “Love over Fear”
When asked what his most memorable part of Feeling Artful was, Judah replied,
“We were all able to look at different emotions and see what they’re like in other peoples’ lives, not just ours. I think that’s really helpful to me and other people so that we can connect and not feel alone”
Judah, a member of the Frederick County Youth Council, representing the character “Anger” by performing “Rhythm Rage".”
Following the youth performances, the stage lights remained shining on tables where friends and families gathered to design their tiles. Children were bursting with joy, laughter, and, most of all, creativity. Each tile is unique and special to the individual person designing it. The purpose is to freely create whatever your heART desires. Feeling Artful increased awareness around the importance of teaching and setting good examples for our youth to engage in creative outlets, emphasizing the message that it’s okay not to be okay. Art looks differently for us all, just as our emotions do. Together, our community is planting seeds that are growing into stigma-free environments for our friends, parents, grandparents, children, and strangers to connect and care for their mental health and overall wellbeing.
Don’t miss From the Heart’s next event, Voices of Resilience, coming up soon on Friday, May 3rd from 6:00 – 9:00pm at the Delaplaine Arts Center!
Click here for more information and to register!
About From the Heart- From the Heart: Creative expressions in mental wellness is a 10-month campaign sponsored by the Mental Health Workgroup of the Local Health Improvement Process. The mission is to foster an inclusive and compassionate community by embracing the power of art to challenge social stigmas surrounding mental health.
From the Heart’s ultimate goals are to break down barriers, eradicate the stigma attached to mental health issues, and cultivate a society that celebrates and values the healing potential of creative expression in promoting mental health and wellness.
If you are interested in learning more about the Mental Health Workgroup, please contact Summer McClellan at Summer@healthierfrederick.org