Medill News has a video about URBAN ART RETREAT
If you go to www.medill.northwestern.edu/journalism you will find a great video about URBAN ART RETREAT’S outreach program. Look under graduate works, type in URBAN ART RETREAT, and you will see our newest artist, James Allen, talking about how art has helped him get through some tough times. The student who created the video as a news piece (maybe a human interest story?) did a great job of presenting some of the theory behind why UAR offers art making to help others.
In addition to other programming, UAR offers Have Studio Will Travel program. This program is set up to allow other organizations who don’t have an art program to contract with UAR to offer a supportive therapeutic art program at their site. One such site we go to weekly is Sacred Heart Home, a residential program for adults with physical and mental disabilities. The adults there get the opportunity to make art and get support for their insights and journey through difficult lives.
Another reason we like to extend opportunties for adults to make art is that many artists find themselves in situations where there is no chance to make art and/or get support for being an artist and having something to say through their artwork. There are always artists in every group or population. They need a way to access art making and we provide it.