Can art be therapy? Can art help us to introspect? Facilitate self-discovery? Find peace? Rejuvenate a tired soul? Well, you can explore this and many other possibilities of art through Tia Pleiman's forthcoming art retreat at Chennai.
Tia Pleiman is an artist, art therapist and teacher, known for her art therapy work with the New York City Board of Education and art therapy workshops in the US, as well as for her work with children in Indian villages around Auroville. She lives at the International Township of Auroville, Pondicherry.
This retreat at Chennai will include learning of tools, techniques and practices within the field of art therapy as a personal wellness practice, a journey of personal and collective creative expression, discovery, reflection and rejuvenation, and also cathartic creative experiences.
"I call my programmes 'Peace of Art', because I truly believe that making art and participating in the creative process creates peace, both internally and externally", mentions Pleiman. Pleiman's work is cross cultural and addresses self-expression and creative exploration, interpersonal communication, community bonding, human unity, and also individual and group empowerment.
Pleiman, who has a dual Bachelors of Arts degree — in Developmental Psychology and Fine Art from University of Charleston, West Virginia and a Masters in Creative Arts Therapy from Hofstra University in New York, follows a multifaceted approach to art therapy.
For instance, at the Aikiyam School at the Kuilapalayam Village near Auroville, Pleiman involved children of grades one to eight, including both children with special needs as well as mainstream students for individual and group art and art therapy, with appropriate modules for the diverse needs and age groups.
Meanwhile, as a college instructor at Colorado Mountain College, Pleiman addressed 'Creativity and the Young Child', exploring the stages of child development from birth through adolescence, with the class participants exploring creative avenues for each developmental stage and creating a 'developmentally appropriate creativity resource book' for their classroom, day care centre or home.
Who is it for?
Counselors, psychologists, social workers, educators, therapists, special educators, clinicians, trainers, volunteers etc. will find the retreat useful. No prior knowledge of art is necessary. The retreat will be held on three consecutive Sundays of December (2, 9 and 16), 2012, between 10 am to 4 pm.
Fifteen to 20 individuals will be accommodated in the retreat, and the fees for it has been fixed at Rs.3,750, inclusive of lunch and tea for all three days. The retreat will be held at the premises of Chennai's Apparao Galleries located at the Nungambakkam area in the heart of the city. To register, contact 9840774659/9790779872. To know more about art therapy and Pleimans work, log on to www.createandtransform.org