Discovering Art Therapy Through Community Making

Guest article by Alyssa DeNardis, an art therapy graduate student

It was my first day as the new studio intern at Contemporary Craft and I was filled with both excitement and anxiety when I walked in the front door. I’d never worked in a museum or maker space before, so it was brand new territory for me. I knew that I’d be helping the studio manager maintain their maker spaces but, other than that, I had no idea what to expect. Typically I would’ve let myself become lost in my fears. Instead, I was drawn in by the incredible artwork that greeted me as I entered the gallery space. As I walked around, slowly spending time with each piece of art, I became more grounded in the present moment and my fears melted away.

As the days went by, I quickly fell into a routine in my new role. Along with studio maintenance, I ended up doing quite a bit of administrative work, which I eventually ended up enjoying. I was also learning how to repair and maintain the equipment in the various makers spaces: a metals studio, a wood studio, and a large multi-purpose space. I felt comfortable working with the metals equipment, since metalsmithing was my concentration in my undergraduate program, but I couldn’t say the same for the rest. I learned how to repair kilns, band saws, sewing machines, and more! It was difficult, but little by little I was able to build up my skills and confidence and before I knew it, my summer internship was over. Thankfully, I was hired back on for a one year studio apprenticeship after graduation; it felt like a dream come true!

As the studio apprentice, maintenance still took up the majority of my time, but I was often asked to assist the other museum departments now too. Since the museum was so small, it was common to collaborate across departments; For events or large exhibition installations, it was often all-hands-on-deck. Some of my favorite tasks were installing small exhibitions in the studio’s display cases, installing large artworks in the main gallery, and even inventorying the museum’s permanent collection! There are so many small yet important tasks that go into making a small museum function and it felt amazing to be a part of it.

Another aspect of my work as the studio apprentice was to assist with community outreach programs. These programs varied quite a bit, but some highlights were an after school rag-rug workshop for teens and a month-long summer camp focused on building meaningful skills in the arts. The most memorable outreach program that I got to participate in was actually the one that inspired me to revisit my dream of becoming an art therapist. The program was designed by an art therapist and run by museum volunteers. Every other week the volunteers and I would go to the local women’s shelter and teach the children how to sew small square pillows. When the children were finished sewing, we would ask them to imagine their hopes and dreams for the future, and then draw them onto the pillows. The idea was that they would put them under their actual pillows at night to help them keep their dreams alive. This experience truly showed me the healing power of art and it’s one of the reasons I felt such a strong pull towards the field of art therapy.

Community art spaces (like museums, makers spaces, etc.) are something that I feel fundamentally drawn to. There’s a “healing magic” that happens while creating and viewing art in community that I can’t quite explain with words. So, whether it be through museums, open art therapy studios, or clinical work, I want to help facilitate that magic in my career.

If you’d like to get updates on future content from me, you can follow me on LinkedIn.

---