We received this survey back from a teen in Baltimore recently that we thought we’d share:

“I’m 17 years old and dealing with cancer (I was diagnosed in 2010), but I’m in remission now, thank God. Before I started [Chill & Spill], I felt worried. After I finished this book, I felt content and happy…”

Come to Art with Heart’s Chill & Spill Intensive Training!

Last chance for 2011! Through lecture, hands-on activities, and group discussion, this intensive day-and-a-half course prepares participants to bring Chill & Spill, Art with Heart’s therapeutic journal that fosters social and emotional learning through creativity, to your youth. You will leave feeling comfortable using creativity to build and strengthen relationships with your youth.

Space is limited. Click here for more information and to sign up!

October 13th, 2011 from 3 – 7 p.m. is the last chance of 2011 to join us for a hands-on, creative workshop! The training will introduce you to how to utilize drawing and writing to help ease the fears of hospitalized children and their siblings.  Participants will understand how to encourage creativity, even with children with limited physical capacity.  Learn how to use Art with Heart’s amazing books!  Find out about “Art Buddy” volunteer opportunities at Swedish and Harborview Medical Centers.

Attendance for the training is limited, so be sure to register today! Go to for more information and to sign up!

The Color of Hope Benefit Breakfast on September 7th was absolutely WONDERFUL!

What a great line up of speakers…especially 15 year old Kendra, whose story is captured on video at Art with Heart’s Facebook Page. Take a look if you missed the event.

Together we raised over $82,000 to support kids in crisis! This money will go to help Art with Heart continue its good work with children not just here in Seattle, but all around the world. Thank you to everyone who participated. Your generosity made this possible.

If you missed it, you can still be a part of the event’s success! Additional donations continue to roll in, helping us lay a firm foundation as we continue to move forward. Your additional donations will help us not only continue our important work, but also support the development of new programs so that we can make an even deeper impact on children who need us the most.

Donate today either online or by mail (checks can be made out to Art with Heart, and sent to P.O. Box 94402, Seattle, WA 98124-6702).

At our last art workshop for foster care youth, we had 30 teens who crowded into the make-shift art space. We built the workshop around one of the activities in Chill & Spill called Powerful/Powerless.

We asked, what makes you feel powerful?  What makes you feel powerless?  What words describe your feelings? What images describe your words?

Then, we taught them a unique collage technique to create images that expressed what they looked like when they felt powerful.

One particular student, 12-year old Victoria, stood out to me. She had been in the foster care system from an early age because of her mother’s substance abuse. She had been shuffled from home to home. The emotional trauma that she continually experienced because of the constant upheaval was taking its toll on her. The ongoing separation, continual sense of loss, and feelings of uncertainty were her constant companions. The difficulties she had experienced had begun to take their toll on her – her sense of self and overall mental and health was beginning to deteriorate. And her day to day behavior clearly revealed these internal conflicts.

A few weeks after the workshop, all the youth’s beautiful artwork was displayed in a gallery in downtown Seattle. As the youth filtered in, they were oohing and “awing” over how professional their work looked in the gallery and behind glass.

Victoria came up to one of our staff and asked, “What does that red dot on my art mean?”

“Well, that means somebody bought your piece!”

Victoria couldn’t believe it. She squealed – and jumped up and down – and just beamed. Her smile was infectious. You could just see her bursting with pride. Someone bought her work of art. She felt seen, and heard, and important. She was an artist! She was powerful.

For children like Victoria, moments like this are a lifeline. Providing reasons for kids to feel pride in themselves is critically important because, as we know, low self-esteem can affect our entire being – our thoughts and attitudes, relationships, and experiences.

By promoting healthy self-esteem, children’s mental well-being, their assertiveness, and resilience increase. Art with Heart’s workshop was a stepping stone in building and supporting Victoria’s self-confidence. Art with Heart is making strides…one child at a time.

Joey lost his right arm in a car accident in his home state of Idaho. Airlifted to Harborview here in Seattle, the 7-year-old nearly lost his life as well. The day after his surgery, one of our Art Buddy hospital volunteers, Kelly, gave him a copy of our Oodles of Doodles book to encourage him.

As Kelly showed Joey the different pages, he chose a page and, slowly, began to color. First, he used his mouth to open the pen cap… and then, using his left hand, he carefully began coloring.

He took his time filling in the pictures – being as precise as he was able. He didn’t want his mom’s help, so she watched quietly as Joey became fully engaged and excited – never realizing that he was beginning to learn new skills.

Very quickly, the Oodles book not only began to help him deal with the emotional loss of life as he knew it… but it also became a part of his physical therapy in learning to write and draw with his left hand.

Life was opening up to Joey again. Yes, it would be different and difficult with only one arm. But he began to see beyond his limits … to his possibilities.

Like so many families in our city, state and country today, Emily’s father lost his job. The family had been living paycheck to paycheck, and it wasn’t long before they faced eviction. The pressure of such uncertainty took its toll on Emily’s father… who took it out on his 12-year-old daughter.

Emily suffered physical abuse and reflected it back on the world around her. Says Emily, “I was angry at people every day. And so I started doing bad things.”

She began to hurt other kids in her class. She threatened the life of her principal as well as the life of her father – and eventually threatened to take her own life.

Emily was expelled and sent to an alternative school, where a therapist gave her a copy of Chill & Spill.  They began to work through the pages together. As another young girl told us, “Chill & Spill lets me write what’s flying around in my head so I can see it more clearly.” And it certainly had that same impact on Emily. She used the book to confront and deal with her overwhelming feelings of anger and betrayal.

“This is a great book. All of it. You open it up, and it doesn’t talk about you. It is listening and it doesn’t talk back to you. It likes whatever I am drawing. When I’m sad, I draw a picture that connects to [what I'm feeling]. I look at it every day and I write in it every day. It helps a lot.”

Her discoveries led her father to confront his feelings, as well. Through Emily’s Chill & Spill writings, he realized the impact his behavior was having on his little girl. He stopped the abuse… and it opened up a dialog of healing and hope between them.

Today, Emily is back in a regular school and she’s doing well. She still writes in her Chill & Spill book… and calls it her best friend.