Quilt Making and the Underground Railroad 6/11/10

     Today we honored flag day, a holiday pretty low on the radar of the average citizen in the United States. We discussed Betsy Ross and the long history in this country of quilt making. Quilt making is now a three billion dollar a year industry in the United Sates and is a hobby enjoyed by many million people. Our topic focused on quilt making during the Civil War and we discussed the connection of their use in the Underground Railroad. Many quilt patterns are believed to have carried messages through the intricate language of symbols directed to slaves running toward their freedom.  We shared many of these symbols and their meanings,  such as: following the North Star, preparing to depart on the journey towards freedom, and following a bear's trail to avoid publicly traveled roads. We also discussed  the common daily act of hanging out a quilt in the sun by slaves who worked along the various routes toward freedom. These quilts hanging in people's yards were covert billboards to aid them in their path and offer messages of the local conditions. The sample image to the left is called the "Bow Tie" or "Hourglass" and was a symbol indicating it was necessary to travel in disguise or change into clothing worn by a free person to avoid detection. This image might have been sewn into a quilt many times over and was a standard quilt pattern, so did not create and suspicion.
     Each participant was given a 12x12 piece of card stock with the symbols already drawn in dark black lines to aid in visibility. They spent the majority of the session using water colors to paint the squares. Our discussion led to the connection Jews felt to the African American plight and their involvement in the Civil Rights movement. We also shared our connection to the United States flag and the deep feeling Jews have about freedom. We also had a Holocaust survivor in the group discuss the intricate levels of communication of the partisans living in the forests of Europe during WWII. Everyone was very interested in the topic and very pleased with their outcome. This project was simple to execute, non threatening as an art medium, and provided for a stimulating conversation.

Challah Baking and Parsha Shelach

     The parsha connected to today's art therapy session deals with the story of the 12 spies who went on a fact finding mission to the land of Canaan, and returned with a terrible report claiming, " We were like grasshoppers compared to the inhabitants." The punishment for this bad PR was to force the Jews to wander around the desert for forty years until the generation who was taken out of Egypt died out. Two members of the team of spies did not give such a negative view ( Caleb and Joshua) and were not punished to the extent of the others.
     This event is the cornerstone for many aspects of our current Jewish practices such as praying in a group of ten (a minyon). The Spies returned with their stories on the 9th of Av (Tisa B'Av), and this became a day in Jewish history in which terrible things happened such as the destruction of both temples, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and many other tragic events in our history.
     One positive commandment connected to this day is that of making Challah. One idea of this commandment being connected to this event is that the actual commandment of making challah ( and removing some of it for a sacrificial offering) is that it could not be performed until the Jews were living in the land of Israel, and until the wheat could be cultivated. The forty year journey of preparation toward this act of making challah might have been a way to set a pong term goal for the future and imagine the possibility of being free people growing their own food and making their own decisions.
     Our challah making was a very enjoyable experience for the participants. One participant's family owned a bakery in Kansas City for much of her adult life, and everyone was able to recall stories of their mother's making challah. The interaction of working with dough was very therapeutic and calming, due to the familiar feeling of working with ones hands to create food. The challah was baked after the group and given to each participant in several hours after the group. Each challah was identified  by placing a popsicle stick with a name under the challah and was kept there while it baked.

Contour Drawing and Elizabeth Layton

Today we veered away from our typical group of creating a nice looking project around the topic of a Judaic theme. Instead, we discussed the life of the artist Elizabeth Layton, also known as "Grandma Layton". Our group has evolved into a very regular group of about six individuals, and the trust level has been established, allowing us to dabble with more experimental art exercises.

Elizabeth Layton was a  late blooming artist from Wellsville, Kansas who began drawing at the age of 68. Through contour drawing, she surprisingly cured her 30 year severe depression. Her contour drawings were mostly of herself and her husband  and often focused on political topics she felt strongly about such as AIDS, civil rights, etc. Her prolific portfolio has been shown all over the world including the Smithsonian.

As a warm up exercise each participant chose a black and white image and spent several minutes tracing it. The idea was to loosen up and get a feel for the perimeter of an object. Tracing can be a very soothing activity. Participants were asked to monitor their mood, while they traced. Everyone seemed to enjoy this activity, and were pleased with their results.
The next step of our session was to attempt to draw blind contour drawings. This is a drawing exercise in which the drawing is executed by looking only at the subject and not down at the paper. The result is often a raw image of the subject and a strong mood is  conveyed through the image. The sample image is one drawn of the staff person sitting in our session. She looks contemplative and intrigued. This picture was drawn during her fifth day on the job. Although her face is not drawn clearly, the mood was captured throughh this contour drawing technique. Participants looked at subjects sitting across from them. People were very entertained by the experience and once they got over their initial trepidation, they found the second and third renderings  to be a much more satisfying experience.

Shavuot (The receiving of the 10 Commandments) 5/14/10

This week we focused on the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, comemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. We discussed the many customs associated with this holiday such as: All night learning sessions, eating dairy foods, and decrating ones home with greenery.

Our art project was to create a simple hanging bouquet of paper flowers using coffee filters, paper and pipe cleaners. One participant identified this project as childish and refused to participate, but still stayed for the discussion. Others ignored this comment and painted voraciously because of the coffee filters' ability to diffuse color rapidly. The flowers were created by wrapping painted coffee filters around pipe cleaners and once enough were made for a bouquet, they were taped into a piece of construction paper rolled into a cone shape. A pipe cleaner was attached to the cone so the bouquet could be hung from a door..

Parsha Nasso and the Priestly Blessing 5/21/10

Today we focused on the Torah portion for this coming Shabbat which discusses the priestly blessing given by the members of the Levite tribe. After reading the blessing, we began our session sharing things in our lives which make us feel blessed. Many participants shared that they felt most blesseed by their families, and some identified the simple blessing of being alive. One regular participant is a quadrapalegic and has began using her mouth to write, draw and paint. She shared that her blessing is being able to create art.

We discussed the uninterupted lineage of the priestly class of also known as Cohanim which stretches from these Torah stories to our present day.  Because of some skeptics in the group, we discussed the recent  DNA testing conducted on many of the Cohanim of our generation, and shared literature about thier unique genetic markers found worldwide amongst these particular Jews.

We then painted simple picture frames with watercolors, and placed our personal blessing in the center of the frame. The mood was jovial, and there was much laughter after the comment about letting the paints make you feel free. The woman painting with her mouth laughed so hard, she couldn't keep the paintbrush in her mouth. We sang the Sabbath Prayer song from Fiddler on the Roof which has a familiar feel to the Priestly blessing.

While we worked, we discussed the rituals of receiving the priestly blessing on the high holidays in synagogue, as well as the blessing a parent gives a child on Friday night dinner. Several people recalled giving their children blessings and even receiving blessings as children on Friday nights.

 Our discussion concluded with the idea of thinking about blessings as a way to combat depression, and the idea some people use of keeping a thankfulness journal as a way to elevate ones mood. One of the particpants in the group is a retired psychiatrist, and he found this idea very intriguing.

Holocaust Memorial Day 4/9/10

Today we discussed Jews in the 20th Century as a benign approach Holocaust Memorial Day. There is one  Holocaust survivor who attends the group, and the focus for the day allowed all participants to engage in sharing thier family's story of the past century. The theme also created a dialogue if anyone wanted to discuss their experiences in the Holocaust.  We looked at the book by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin called "The Golden Land" about the Jewish immigration to the United States.

The art portion of this discussion involved creating a picture frame by collaging images  from this book. The copies for collaging included: Yiddish playbills from early off Broadway shows, the original poem found of the Statue of Liberty written by Emma Lazurus, old flyers for English classes for new immigrants, and The Declaration of Independence and Constitutution translated into Yiddish and Hebrew.
 Participants engaged in the diacussion and shared many stories about their family histories. The topic of the Holocaust came up, but did not dominate the discussion.

Israel Independence Day 4/16/10

Today we discussed the History of modern Israel in honor of Israel Independence Day. We also sang songs, and  shared experiences participants have had in Israel. We discussed facts about the tremendoous economic growth in recent years as well as the current political situation.

 We created door amulets called Hamsas. Hamsas are very popular amulets found all across the Middle East, and represent protection from the "evil"eye". They are a popular motif found in homes and shops across Israel. We worked with watercolors on foam board and hung the Hamsas with ribbons. Many participants hung theirs on their doors at the conclusion of this session.