Below, please view a video montage of a few of my collages and snippets from my original poems and vocal "diddies" that were included in my installation.
The "Art of Connection" showcases artwork by graduate Art Therapy students and/or the individuals we work with at our internship sites. Artwork in the show reflects the varied settings, populations, and practices of art therapy, representing a culmination of the Masters of Art Therapy program at School of the Art Institute Chicago.
As defined by the American Art Therapy Association, “art therapy is the therapeutic use of art making, within a professional relationship, by people who experience illness, trauma, or challenges in living, and by people who seek personal development. Through creating art and reflecting on the art products and processes, people can increase awareness of self and others; cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences; enhance cognitive abilities; and enjoy the life-affirming pleasures in making art.”
As defined by the American Art Therapy Association, “art therapy is the therapeutic use of art making, within a professional relationship, by people who experience illness, trauma, or challenges in living, and by people who seek personal development. Through creating art and reflecting on the art products and processes, people can increase awareness of self and others; cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences; enhance cognitive abilities; and enjoy the life-affirming pleasures in making art.”
Title:
Blak Thot:
unapologetically
blaq. unignored blac.
Artist:
veronica
precious bohanan
Media:
collage mixed-media and poetry installation
Artist Statement:
We—have a youth-therapist relationship.
Us—Black, within the multiplicity of
"Blackness."
They—youth, & disproportionately
African American &
resilient
& insightful & survivors & creative geniuses...
Me—African American art therapy intern at
a
residential
treatment center for children.
“Blak Thot: unapologetically
blaq. unignored blac.” is an
artistic documentation of my self-reflexive journey at my second-year
internship. Guided by the values of
Positive Youth Development, my art responses informed my culturally competent,
integrated arts and trauma-informed art therapy practice at my fieldwork site.
My responses reflect that race and historical/cultural
experiences should not be ignored, and do not exist in isolation from one's
mental wellness. Likewise, my responses
reflect the permission that the youth and I gave one another to exist within
the familiarity of shared cultural and ethnic understandings.
Through this process, I was not only able to recognize, but
to transcend, the stigmatization of their diagnosis, traumas and behavioral
challenges, to then focus on their strengths and ever-evolving identities. In all, this art-making process assisted me
in fostering a co-created therapeutic space that promoted positive growth and
development beyond pathology and cultural stereotyping.
Art Therapy Intern veronica precious bohanan
