Children Can Use Art to Express Their Grief

July 16, 2010 - PRLog -- Creative arts can help you express emotions that are very hard to put into words. Hospice at Home/Lory’s Place have partnered with the Box Factory to create a new workshop called Mixed Media Art for Children. This four week workshop will provide creative grief expression opportunities through the use of mixed media art.

During week one, participants will learn to create their own scenes through improvisation games with Carole Catherine. They will explore feelings, both humorous and touching, through actor’s exercises.  

During week two, the art of collage will be used with Sherrie Styx to create a special memory box to hold keepsake treasures to remember their loved ones. Participants should bring special photos and yarn/ribbon from home to add to the boxes. There will be items on hand to select from as well. Boxes will be taken home the same day.

For week three, participants will visually relax with Sherrie Styx using holistic color to create their own “Tiffany Glass” keepsake in memory of a loved one. This class utilizes acrylics and acrylic paints so please wear a cover shirt for a relaxing artist journey. Participants will  be able to take home their miniature window the same day.  

Week four participants will create a personalized photo necklace with Gloria Warwell-Oberst. This unique creation will recognize and honor that special life remembered. Participants should bring two or three photos that will fit into a one-inch square pendant.  Participants will learn to slab clay, make tiles and then glaze them. Tiles can be displayed in miniature easels.
 
This program will take place on Thursdays, August 5 - 26, from noon – 2:00 pm at the Box Factory for the Arts, 1101 Broad St., St. Joseph. There is no charge for this program. Classes are for children ages 5+ and size is limited to twelve participants on a first-come first-serve basis. Call Lory’s Place at 269-983-2707 to register.  
   
Hospice at Home also offers ongoing groups that meet during the evening for adults and children at Lory’s Place Grief Healing and Education Center. The groups include regularly scheduled age-appropriate support group sessions that allow children and adults to interact with peers who have suffered similar loss. Groups for children and adults who are anticipating a loss or who have experienced a loss through pregnancy are also available, as well as educational and workplace grief programs. All community bereavement services are provided free of charge thanks to local community contributions.

Hospice at Home is the non-profit community hospice focusing on the patient and family regardless of the patients' diagnosis, treatment choices, life expectancy, or ability to pay. It provides quality care to people adjusting to living with a serious illness, to people facing death, to people anticipating the death of a loved one, or to people healing their grief after the death of a loved one. Hospice at Home places an emphasis on the emotional, social, and spiritual needs of those who need care and those receiving support services. Serving Berrien, Cass, Van Buren, and Allegan Counties, the care is coordinated by a team of physicians, nurses, home health aides, social workers, spiritual care counselors, bereavement coordinators, and trained volunteers. Extending this care, Lory’s Place, a bereavement and education center that builds hope and strength for every grieving family, is available to anyone in Southwest Michigan or Northern Indiana.

For more information contact Hospice at Home at 269-429-7100 or 1-800-HOSPICE, or go to www.hospiceathomecares.org or contact Lory’s Place at 269-983-2707 or 1-800-717-3812, or go to www.lorysplace.org.

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Hospice at Home is your non-profit hospice provider for SW Michigan. Offering comfort, dignity, and compassion to the terminally ill through a holistic, non-curative, approach to care, focused on enhancing the lives of patients for their remaining days.