2021: Maintaining Hope in the Year(s) of Living Dangerously -Wes Chester, MA CAGS- Director, Expressive Arts Institute
January 1st, 2021 As I look back across the nearly six decades of my life, I can never remember a time when I felt so circumspect about wishing everyone “Happy” New Year’s. It seems almost wrong. I don't want to put pressure on people right now to feel "happy." So many are grieving the loss of jobs, homes, family
Beyond Catharsis & Expression: The arts play a deeper role in Expressive Arts Therapy
-by Wes Chester, MA, CAGS, Director, Expressive Arts Institute The inspiration for this article started with a friendly chat with my friend via Facebook Elena Lomakin about a Picasso quotation she posted. Elena writes: Elena Lomakin-Duet-acrylic, ink, graphite & fabric on paper on a/f board 20'' x 16'' "The reason I referred to that Picasso quote was because someone
Goddess Wisdom for Today’s Woman: Embracing Her Powers in Contemporary Life.
Interview with Dr. Judith Greer Essex -Wes Chester, MA, CAGS, Director, Expressive Arts Institute Why the goddess workshop? Why now? Since the last election, I have witnessed a rise in overt sexism and misogyny in our society. It was hard time to hold my head up for a while. Women in my practice and community sought me out with symptoms of
How to Use the Winter Season as a Time for Growth
Many of us hold a romantic vision of winter, huddling by the fire with stories and songs, candlelight, the celebration of the solstice. Perhaps we even experience a sense of hygge, that close peaceful, warmth and contentment alone or with friends that Norwegians rely on to get through the cold gray months. Listening to the deep
So, You Want to Become an Expressive Arts Therapist? – with Judith Greer Essex Ph.D.
I can’t blame you. For 40 years I have had the best seat in the house. I witness people unfold, come alive again, heal and grow through the arts. It’s the most satisfying job in the world. Helping people by making art and making a difference, what could be better than that? What is Expressive Arts Therapy? Expressive Arts Therapy
Goddess Wisdom for Today’s Woman: Embracing your inner goddess to empower your life. An Interview with Dr. Judith Greer Essex: -Wes Chester, MA, CAGS, Director, Expressive Arts Institute
Why the goddess workshop? Why now? I have done workshops concerning the images and myths of ancient goddesses for many years. Feminine psychology interests me, naturally, and I am at heart an artist, guided by images. I stopped about 20 years ago when I began the bigger work of founding the Expressive Arts institute. Since the last
Schools in Session: What will you learn this fall?
The start of the school year comes at a celebratory time in the cycle of the year. Summer is waning, and we may be feeling rested from vacation downtime. The work in the field to move us towards harvest is nearly completed. It is in this time that the internal work of planting new ideas, nurturing continuing
Dream Jobs Series: Ann Davis Brings the Heart of Aloha to the Monarch School.
Institute Graduate Ann Davis came to us from the Hawaiian Islands, bringing a deep interest in education and community organization, and a serious need for play in the arts. When Ann came from Hawaii to the mainland, she missed the sense of family "ohana" and community, "the spirit of aloha." So it is fitting that she found
New Swift Gallery show brings attention to the perilous lives of birds…
The Guam Rail (depicted here) is extinct in the wild, but captive breeding programs are keeping hope alive for its eventual return to the wild. For the last decade, artist Stacie Birky Greene has been in a dialog with the nature of loss and hope. Inspired by a National Public Radio report in 2009, she began an epic,
Recovering the Artist: the 8th annual show at the Swift Shines a light on Recovery.
How did the Artist get lost? In life, most of us eventually face events that require a kind of absolute change in the nature of how we live, or think about life. But the loss of the artist is usually cultural. We have forgotten the time before diagnosis and drug therapy, and the reductionist labeling of