November 8, 2018 | Children | Education
Art therapists who traveled from around the world to Miami for the American Art Therapy Association’s 49th Annual Conference received a warm welcome, beginning with their arrival at the Miami International Airport (MIA). In addition to the billboard and signs in the airport welcoming attendees, MIA hosted a gallery of student artwork from the Miami-Dade County Public School’s Clinical Art Therapy Department.
Art Work: Navigating Students Success is a collection of 72 pieces created by students in art therapy sessions. “It is an honor for us to help raise awareness for art therapy at a high-traffic venue like MIA, and to continue a partnership with the County’s school system that began in 2001,” says Miami-Dade Aviation Director Lester Sola in a press release.
The description of the exhibit is written in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole:
Since 1979, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has offered art therapy services to students identified with emotional and behavior disabilities. The role of the school art therapist is to assist identified students in addressing social, emotional, and/or behavioral issues to better access educational opportunities.
Members of the M-DCPS Clinical Art Therapy Department work closely with the faculty, administration, and parents as part of a larger team effort.
Currently, the department is comprised of ten art therapists providing services in 23 schools throughout the District. Art Work: Navigating Student Success reflects the various ways that our students view and experience success in school.
The show will be on display through the end of January 2018 at MIA’s Concourse E, pre-security on the first floor, near door 11.
Below is a sampling of the pieces on display:
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- “The Struggles We Face.” Colored pencils on paper. Clinical Art Therapist: Patricia Isis, PhD, LMHC, ATR-BC. “Sometimes it’s necessary to break the ties that bind.” – Student Age 16.
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- “Emotions.” Pencil and marker on paper. Clinical Art Therapist: Leah Guzman, ATR-BC “This is how I check in with my feelings.” – Student Age 13
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- “Art is Life.” Colored pencils and markers on paper. Clinical Art Therapist: Melissa Minton, MA, ATR “Art makes me feel calm and helps me challenge myself.” –Student Age 15.
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- “Behind Every Mask.” Acrylic paint on canvas. Clinical Art Therapist: Mellissa Minton, MA, ATR. “Art Therapy is a place that makes me feel like I can be myself without putting on a fake facade.” – Student Age 17
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- Title: “The Confused Bird”. Medium: Cloth, Pipe Cleaners, Cardboard. Age of Student: 15 years old. Artist’s Statement: “The bird is confused because he can’t find any food. I can’t find myself when I do school work. It’s hard for me to concentrate.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “The student’s goals for this school year are on-task behavior skills.”
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- Title: “New Paths, New Attitude”. Medium: Mixed media. Age of Student: 16 years old. Artist’s Statement: “Footprints: Don’t let your old footprints determine your future.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “The student’s self-determination goals for this school year are interpersonal skills and self-advocacy.”
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- Title: “Connections to Cuban Lifestyle, Culture. Heritage and Tradition”. Medium: Paint, Cardboard. Age of Student: 18 years old. Artist’s Statement: “This piece represents everything that I am in every single way. The piece portrays certain wants and change for Cuban society. This piece portrays that I am willing to do anything to preserve that way of life to the day that I die. May my children and their children’s children never break the true tradition or ancestry.”
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- Title: “Shut up!” Medium: Markers, Colored Pencils. Age of Student: 14 years old. Artist’s Statement: “This piece represents my challenges I need to overcome. I need the voices in my head to shut up.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “The student’s self-determination goals for this school year were to increase her self-advocacy skills and coping skills.”
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- Title: Untitled. Medium: Paper, Cardboard and Crayola Twist Age of Student: 9 years old. Artist’s Statement: “I don’t get along with my uncle. We fight a lot. I talk about him in therapy. We’re doing a little better.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “The student lives with her grandmother and multi-generational home. We are working on frustration tolerance and interpersonal skills.”
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- Title: “I Wish”. Medium: Crayon, Cardboard. Age of Student: 9 years old. Artist’s Statement: “Reality right now for me is ‘poop’ mostly because of school. I escaped reality and daydream for relief. I go to a fantasy world where I wish I could be a mermaid.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “The student’s goal is impulse control. This student gets in trouble often due to calling out and being off task. This student benefits from getting positive attention for being creative and talented.”
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- Title: “The Lonely Sister”. Medium: Colored Pencil, Watercolor Paint, Glitter Glue and Cardboard. Age of Student: 11 years old. Artist’s Statement: “This is a story of a girl who is sad because her brother went to Mexico and had a heart attack. Whenever she sees a star on the Christmas tree it reminds her of when her brother put a star on the Christmas tree.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “This boy lives with his aunt and uncle. He has unresolved grief issues regarding his separation from his mother and father.”
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- Title: “Memories”. Medium: Paint, Canvas. Age of Student: 14 years old. Artist’s Statement: “This piece shows my relationship with myself, my mind, and my memories. There are spots of confrontation, happiness, and even mixed emotions. It’s like a map of things that went wrong or didn’t – the bad and the good, depending on the colors.” Art Therapist’s Statement: “The student’s goals for this school year include frustration tolerance.”
