Pamela started painting as a ten-year-old, when her mom enrolled her in an adult art class. Her dad taught her how to draw on paper napkins after dinner. Decades later, her artwork expanded from individual paintings to include participatory art with a focus on healing and resilience. Drawing on Pamela’s own journey towards restoration, following…
Art can provide an open space for the critical exchange of ideas. Due to the harsh realities in this world, at times we need to discuss content that some may find offensive or traumatizing. We try to forewarn about potentially disturbing content, such as the following story about child sexual assault, so you can opt…
Have you ever chosen to do something small that made a big difference in your life? One U.S. military veteran, let’s call him Mark, reluctantly decided to participate in the 2021 Voices project, featured at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At the time, Mark’s life seemed quite bleak, in part due to drug and alcohol…
Recently, 75 Arizona high school kids participated in one of the Healing in Arts workshops. After watching The Scarlet Cord film, the students created paintings for their own exhibit on sex trafficking. They also invited family members and friends to write healing messages on 750 wooden hearts. The inspiring notes will be given to survivors…
A decade ago, a group of beautiful women from Congo caught my attention with their brightly colored dresses. When I went over to meet them. I introduced myself as an artist. Immediately, their American sponsor asked if I would be willing to paint their portraits and tell their stories for ArtPrize. This yearly art event…
For the Girls Up motivational talk with Healing in Arts, I began by sharing how, as a 22-year-old, I was considering an art graduate program on the West coast. But I decided to reset my values and goals, changing directions. Instead, I went to Japan, to teach Japanese people how to speak English. After my…