Artist of the Month- Art Idea

We wanted to introduce Faith Ringgold, someone many of our clients are unfamiliar with at the Center. She is a wonderful painter who narrates her stories on quilt. For more information, you may go to this website:

http://www.faithringgold.com/ringgold/bio.htm

To honor her work, staff members sat in groups and read aloud her accomplishments and display her art on our bulletin. Most of the images were found online. To engage our clients to demonstrate their creativity, we had cut plain fabric, preferably a white or beige color, worked with fabric markers and crayons, and allow our clients to freely draw whatever they wanted. Encourage your clients to draw what they are passionate about or even simple objects such as a key or a heart. For our clients who were experiencing artistic block, you can show them magazines so they pick an image or get pictures of birds and flowers.

While doing the project, one of the clients remembered when she was a teacher and had the kids draw. Although the images did not resemble anything, it was best to encourage. That principle applies with adults as well. The idea of this art project is not to stir a competition to see who is the next Matisse, but to allow clients to express themselves in a positive manner.

All these supplies can be found in an art store, Michael's, or a thrift store. I would advise against using Sharpies because they are permanent, hard to clean, and more expensive.