City Year Young Heroes Program asked Art with Heart to participate in one of their service learning days on Feb. 27th.

Youth worker Babylonia told us, “We lead a diverse group of  middle schoolers – a good portion of them are at-risk and off track. Many of them live in neighborhoods rife with violence and struggle internally with anger and confusion.”

She asked Art with Heart to participate because she felt that a workshop on non-violent expression would be very good for the Heroes.  She was particularly interested in having Art with Heart do an activity out of Chill & Spill so they could learn how to use creativity as an effective outlet to deal with the issues facing them. She continues, “It would be very relevant to our topic, and would be a way to finally engage the kids in art in our program!”

Their service topic was “The Roots of Conflict,” and they covered youth violence, gang/community violence, and methods of peaceful communication. Art with Heart invited Dr. Ana Sierra, a child & community psychologist with 30+ years experience in the field to lead the workshop. She has been an avid supporter and contributor to Art With Heart since first discovering “Oodles of Doodles” many years ago.

Dr. Ana led all 55 students in Chill & Spill’s “Powerful/Powerless” activity, focusing on their strengths. She then asked them to use these strengths as a starting point for an “Exquisite Corpse” poem.

Babylonia told us that she was amazed at how much the students shared when they were done. “I’ve never seen them want to share so much! It was amazing.”

Ana recalls, “Our Young Heroes learned strategies to access their deep, knowing selves and express their precious pearls of experience and wisdom. As they learn to connect with their communities in active, compassionate ways, Chill & Spill activities prepare them for this important work by helping them to know themselves better, act confidently, and react peacefully.”

You can contact Dr. Ana Maria Sierra at 253-686-5184.

Christine Valdez is a Prevention and Intervention Specialist at Anacortes Middle School who has been using Chill & Spill or over two years now. We’ve asked her to send us her updates and will post them here as she has time to share:

Last week we did “My Place.” Every time I’ve done this activity with a group, I have to sort of feel around for the frame of reference. But with this group I felt like I was just going along for the ride.

All of them knew right away what their special place was, some were real, some imaginary, some an amalgam. And most of them already had a lot of practice of going to their special place when things were tough.

I was mesmerized by their descriptions of their places and how they brought in so many of the senses. Listening to them, I could smell and, in some case, even taste what they were describing. When we talked about the activity afterward, the main focus was on ways we can solidify the place in our minds so we can go there any time. So we decided that next week (today) we would do collages of our special spaces to really help us see them.

I also started recruitment for a second group, to start next week. That one will be all boys, since this one turned out to be all girls.

Christine Valdez is a Prevention and Intervention Specialist at Anacortes Middle School who has been using Chill & Spill for over two years now. We’ve asked her to send us her updates and will post them here as she has time to share:

I started a new Chill & Spill series with a group of four 7th and 8th grade girls. Two of them have past experience with C&S, one individually and one in a group.

We did the first activity, “Writing and Drawing Can Help You Figure Stuff Out.” Because our time is very short, I’m trying to keep my talking to a minimum. So I just gave them the basic instructions about confidentiality and stressed that I have two things that are big with me:

1. Whatever comes out, comes out. Just let it.
2. Keep the pen (crayon, pencil, marker, whatever..) on the paper.

Some great stuff can come out at the point where you think you’re done. And that’s what they did as they sprawled all over the room. Afterward, we shared just a little and they were off to their next class.
I haven’t done a group since last June and it was great to be back. Looking forward to the next session! More to come!

Your help is needed to help high-risk foster care youth in Texas.

Art with Heart received a request from Jorge Sanchez, MSW Clinician at Southwest Key Programs, a nonprofit in Austin, TX that helps youth by providing a stable and positive environment to turn young lives around. Because of their work, thousands of youth have been diverted from prisons, jails, and institutions, enabling them to stay at home with their families and out of trouble.

Their new Community Connections Program serves bilingual (Spanish) youth who were recently released from a detention facility.

Formerly a social worker with Casey Family Programs, Sanchez received Chill & Spill training last year. Says Sanchez, “I found the books to be very effective in getting foster youth to express themselves.” He continues, “I plan to run a Chill & Spill workshop at our center every Wednesday at 6pm. Many of these youth are gifted at drawing and writing, but just don’t have the words to express themselves.”

The only catch is that he doesn’t have the budget to be able to afford to bring the program to the kids. Would you be willing to sponsor 24 books? If so, please go to http://artwithheartshop.org to purchase the books on his behalf and have them sent to: Jorge A. Sanchez, SW Key, Community Connections Programs, 3017 S. 10th Street, McAllen, TX  78503.

What a wonderful evening and a great way of benefiting the children that Art with Heart serves. 300 people attended the Exotic Wines Festival on February 2nd, which featured some of the Pacific Northwest’s finest boutique wineries. Guests also got to get a sneak peek of Teatro ZinZanni’s newest show. Many thanks to the Exotic Wines Festival event producer Seattle Uncorked, the 25 participating wineries, silent auction donors, event attendees and volunteers for making the fun-filled evening such a great success.

Participating Wineries:
Andrake Cellars, Airfield Estates, Animale*, Bunnell Family Cellar, Fallobst, Gamache Vintners*, Gilbert Cellars*, Ginkgo Forest Winery, Kalamar Winery
Kana Winery*, Kestrel Vintners, McCrea Cellars, NHV — Naches Heights Vintners*, Northwest Cellars*, NW Totem Cellars, Pacific Rim Winemakers*, Palouse Winery*, Reininger Winery*, Smasne Cellars, Sorensen Cellars, Sparkman Cellars, Syncline, Walter Dacon*, Willis Hall, Wilridge Winery*, and Zerba Cellars

Silent Auction Donors:
Vashon Air, Great Harvest Bread Company, Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Swirl Wine Bar, Teatro ZinZanni, and The Westin Seattle

Art with Heart’s work is made possible with generous donations from companies, organizations, and people, like you. Go to artwithheart.org/help to see ways that you can help further the work of Art with Heart.

*Also donated wine for the silent auction

Chill & Spill Report to the Community Luncheon

The year-long evaluation study conducted by MEM Consultants reveals the strength of the Chill & Spill program in establishing meaningful connections with troubled adolescents and youth. Learn about the effectiveness of the Chill & Spill Program with evaluation study partners such as Casey Family Programs, Friends of Youth, and YMCA of Greater Seattle Youth Adult Services. This is a must-attend session for anyone working with hard-to-reach children, ages 11 and above.

When: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Cost: $15 per person, includes lunch and a copy of the Chill & Spill Evaluation Report

Who Needs to Attend: Youth-serving nonprofit organizations, school counselors, social workers, therapists, and others working with youth in crisis

For more information and to register, click HERE.

The Starlight Children’s Foundation has been using Art with Heart books for over 5 years, recently ordering nearly 2,000 Chill & Spill journals to send to teenagers throughout Canada. Though it is a challenge for the foundation to find individual donors to subsidize the books, feedback is so positive that they supply their network of over 100 hospitals by purchasing the books with money from the foundation’s budget.

I spoke to Cathy Diamond, Hospital Program Manager, about how Art with Heart books and programs have helped the Starlight Children’s Foundation work towards its mission. She told me a story about a cancer clinic in Ottawa that came to her looking for a distractive tool for the children receiving ongoing treatment. The Starlight Children’s Foundation provided 100 kits filled with Oodles of Doodles and various art supplies. The children loved having something that belonged to them and could be picked up and worked on during their visits to the clinic.

“There is such a positive benefit for the kids who use the books,” says Cathy. “A strong part of our mandate is to provide distractive entertainment and distractive therapy. The books provide a great icebreaker for Child Life Specialists to start a conversation with a child who is shy or frightened.”

For more than 25 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries by providing entertainment, education and family activities that help them cope with the pain, fear and isolation of prolonged illness. To learn more about the foundation, visit them online here.

Art with Heart has been invited to host an art activities table at a Lunar New Year Celebration on Saturday February 6th, and we are in need of volunteers to represent Art with Heart.

For the art activity we will have Color of Hope Hearts (paper hearts that kids color on the front, and then describe why their image represents “hope” on the back), as well as some loose pages from Oodles of Doodles. You would be there to greet people as they come to the table, help them with their hope hearts, and tell them about Art with Heart.

This is a great opportunity for any parents who have been thinking about volunteering, or who have kids that need volunteer hours for school, because your kids can come with you! There will be food, games, crafts, art, displays, music, and dance, so it should be really fun. They are expecting about 2,000 people.

The Details:
Event: Lunar New Year Celebration
Date: Saturday 2.6.10
Time: 5-8:30pm (plus set-up and take-down of supplies)
Location: Westminster Chapel (Bellevue)

http://www.westminster.org/2010/01/28/lunar-new-year-celebration/

Please email Zandi Salstrom (zandi@artwithheart.org) for details!

Evi Feltus is a Child Life Specialist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. She became interested in becoming a Child Life Specialist when she volunteered for Art with Heart at Children’s Hospital several years ago. She had nannied for many years and found her volunteer time through Art with Heart to be a great way to combine her passion for children with her passion for creativity.

Evi brought Art with Heart’s “Art Buddy” program to Swedish when she was hired and has been working with volunteers to bring creativity to children in the hospital.

She relates the story of an 18-year-old girl with Friedrich’s Ataxia that she gave the Chill & Spill journal to, in order to help her cope with the effects of the disease. Although the patient had difficulty writing her name, speaking clearly and even sitting up, she was able to paint.

Inspired by Chill & Spill’s “Safe Place” activity, she painted a fall scene and wrote a poem about where she felt the safest. Later when she felt overwhelmed by the progressive nature of her disease, she had visual mementos of her “safe place” to keep with her and use that as a tool to help her release her anxiety.

Evi is excited to have more Art with Heart volunteers. Evi wants to remind everyone, though that “you don’t have to be an artist yourself to facilitate creative expression.”