By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Drawings, clay pieces, masks and a giant rocket filled the hallways and spaces at Children’s Resource Center for the fourth annual Art Show on Monday (Aug. 4).
The artwork was created by hundreds of area youth, who are part of the regular day treatment, summer day treatment or residential programming. During the summer program, 122 individuals participated, and for each week of the eight weekly sessions about 100 youth attended.
Art is a common activity offered to help the kids stay busy and keep their brains busy without their phones or computers, explained Mindy Bahnsen, director of outpatient services.
During the after-school programs, which run for two-and-a-half hours during the school year, “We do a lot of art because no one wants to sit in the classroom and do worksheets after they just did that for seven hours at school,” Bahnsen said.
In addition to working on art, they also allow the youth to move around, play with giant blocks, and watch the TV in the gymnasium space. “We need all different forms of stimuli,” she explained.
The art is one part of CRC’s trauma-informed care that works on taking care of the whole person and helps train them in mindfulness.
“A lot of the art focuses on one task,” Bahnsen said. “They are not worrying about the past, not worrying about the future, but just staying in the moment.”
The art may not reflect the abuse or trauma, but it often proves they can sit, focus and find success in the creative process.
Usually, the instructions are open-ended. The children may be given a block of clay and asked to make something they enjoy. They might be handed a piece of paper and crayons with a prompt to draw something that’s meaningful to them. Or they are helped to understand how art helps with emotional regulation and coping skills.
“As therapists, we can learn a lot about someone’s trauma without knowing about the trauma just by how they express it in art,” Bahnsen said.
Some of the artwork was obviously targeting feelings. There were many others that focused on a space theme.
Ten-year-olds Wilie and Mackenzie drew an outline of a body and filled it in with a rainbow of colors drawn, with a color key to identify the emotions. Yellow for happy. Blue for sad. Red for angry. Orange for anxious. Purple for scared. Pink for love. And lime green for calm.
They titled the drawing, “This is where I feel: Knowing how I feel helps me make good choices.”
A giant rocket ship was created in the residential unit via teamwork. Clients worked individually and collaboratively to crate the nearly story-high rocket. Though teamwork is often difficult, the artists realized together they could build a life-size rocket.
“I liked being able to draw whatever I wanted that related to space,” and became part of the rocket, said one of the residents.
Caleb proudly showed a couple of his creations—a bird house and a chocolate chip cookie made from clay. “I liked working with clay. We were using clay to show our emotions,” he said.
This year’s show was bigger than the previous three years thanks to a donation from Bowling Green’s Magna Vehtek that allowed the staff to purchase additional art supplies, said Caroline Beachy, CRC’s fund development and marketing manager.
The opportunity to offer a variety of art supplies allowed the young artists to think outside the box, Bahnsen said.
“It’s important to know that we treat the kids as a whole. We are not in for the trauma or to ‘fix them,’” she said.
Through therapy, case management and working with the families, CRC staff help the kids become more aware of themselves, their feelings and the way they express their feelings.
“It’s not the kid that is the problem; often the kid is the symptom of what’s going on in the environment,” Bahnsen said. “It’s the whole environment that we want to make healthier to make the kid stable and feel secure.”
In addition to the art show, CRC offered free popcorn and snow cones. Staff from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Wood County offered some hands-on activities for families to try.
“The art show and activities today are great,” said Marie Simon, director of children’s services at Wood County District Public Library and a trustee on CRC’s board. “Wood County is so fortunate to have CRC. It was visionary when it was created, and the services are so important.”
The art show’s clay creations, rainbow scratch art, drawings, and space-themed artwork helped CRC tell the story of how their holistic approach involves families and the broader community to create a healthy environment for local youth.
