Tag: Creativity

with Tamara Wellons, Artist in Residence Manager at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts

featuring Kinard Cherry

Valentines Day 2020!

Please join us for a new concert series at the gallery hosted by our very own Tamara Wellons, Artist in Residence Manager at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and Washington, DC based vocal artist.

Each quarter Tami will host a series of different accompanying artists and musicians. The first series will debut on Valentine’s Day as we celebrate love with the smooth rhythms of Tami Wellons and her husband, Kinard Cherry.

Tamara Wellons is a vocal music recording artist who has a voice that flows seamlessly from hymns to soulful house music. Upholding her southern Virginia roots and musical tradition, Tamara has performed on prestigious national and international stages, such as London’s Jazz Café, DC’s Blues Alley, Richmond Jazz Festival, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and many more. Her latest project was recorded with bassist, drummer and lead guitarist and husband, Kinard Cherry.

Tickets: $15

with Helen Frederick

The Healing Arts Series

Exploring the concept of site-specific space and working from a probe the instructor will provide, you will experiment with one element that can be repeated, expanded, or interfaced with itself to plan a small artwork. With personally defined activities derived from objects that act as touchstones, you will take a role in exploring a sensorial or physical experience, as seen in the artworks of Material Woman. This may include the act of splicing ropes, yarn or paper; piling up of small three-dimensional objects, using words and your voice, or inviting others to help you create a tiny installation. We live in a country of cultural appropriation where we desire to experience each other in ceremony. Bring one or two objects with you that you feel represent a deep connection about you, a material that you respond to, and may relate to your cultural roots. Participants and the instructor will enjoy conversation before and after your work is created to share some conclusions. No artistic experience required.

Suggested Donation: $15

with artist Leigh Davis

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Join us for a conversation and discussion with artist Leigh Davis focusing on ELEs (end-of-life experiences). ELEs are unusual experiences that typically occur around the time of a death and are experienced by a person who is dying or who has lost a loved one. These experiences can be interpreted as premonitions, deathbed visions, golden light, changes in the temperature or atmosphere, terminal lucidity, or eerie coincidences. The talk invites the audience to participate and speculate about the boundaries between the physical world, the emotional world, and what may exist beyond.

 

About Leigh Davis

I create multimedia work that is both deeply personal and anthropologically rich, navigating the complex line between voyeurism and empathy. In recent years, projects have taken the form of shrines, altars, and collections of various objects and images that work together to form a cohesive and immersive installation. To house these works, I have been drawn to sites that present their own spirituality or sense of community, using this intrinsic human quality to complement the stories represented in the installations. My overall work is designed to foster connection between viewers and community members, encouraging conversation about the aspects of humanity that keep us apart and bring us together. Currently, I am working on a body of work about the modern rituals surrounding death and the remnants of the life left behind. Vigil, my recent site-based audio installation, stems from my membership with a community of women continuing the tradition of bedside singing to the dying. This project was created for the historic chapel at Green-Wood Cemetery 10/17. I teach courses at Parsons the New School for Design and work between Brooklyn NY and Washington DC.

The Healing Arts Series

Purchase tickets below.

In Flow: A Moving Meditation by Donne Lewis

Friday, November 15th at 7:30pm

Meet three enchanting women who are powerful solo performers in their own rights – sand dancer Donne Lewis, aka the Wychdokta, interdisciplinary artist and healer Artis Moon (the Boundless Eclectic), and producer/singer/songwriter Tamara Wellons, all artists who are deeply rooted in the American tradition of Jazz & improvisation with an eclectic mix of other influences. There is a synergy between them that feels like they are reaching into infinity.

You will experience meditative vibes from Artis Moon with anything from wooden flute and metallophone to crystal bowls and drums, the magic of the Wychdokta with percussive sand dance, movement, and energy healing (Reiki), and the scintillating vocals of Tamara Wellons.

To achieve the integration of Mind, Body, and Soul is to arrive at, or be within, the state of “Flow.”  Movement has always been how I tap into my spirit, to have peace, and its partner, euphoria.  A tap dancer for the past 20 years, I’ve spent the last five years nurturing and developing my concept of barefoot percussive dance, using sand on wood (Sand dancing). The incorporation of modern, contemporary and African movement came two years ago.  The final piece is my journey to mastery of Reiki healing. I am working to physically represent the symbols, to literally embody them, in order to simultaneously share with audiences both my artistry, my rhythms, and the healing energy of Reiki.

In Flow is designed to bring together all the parts of myself, Mind, Body, and Soul, for personal and group healing. I, along with my collaborators, Artis Moon and Tamara Wellons, will represent each concept. Tamara – the Mind, Artis – the Soul, and myself as the Body.

A bath of sound will be created to aurally stimulate the senses. The audience will be witness to a literal flight across the sand, and a gathering of light, air, and sonic vibrations, to arrive back in their bodies, awash in the experience of healing energy.

Click here to visit the Joan Hisaoka Gallery website.

Mind | BODY | Soul

Healing the Outside from Within

A Group Exhibition

Curated by Lindsey Yancich and Meg Mowery

October 1 – December 21, 2019

Curator & Artist Talk: Saturday, October 19, 1:00-3:00pm

Join the artists and curators of Mind, BODY, Soul for a look into their creative and individual perspectives!

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, social media, and a volatile political climate, American society’s opinions regarding body image are constantly evolving and oftentimes treacherous to navigate. Through platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, a younger generation (that’s YOU!) is now dictating and interrogating their own ideals of beauty and body positivity. In this group exhibition, this new generation of artists and thinkers explore concepts of the body as a catalyst for healing and acceptance.

RSVP above in advance, or leave your email at the door for a chance to win 2 FREE TICKETS to the Healing Arts Series: A Movement Performance by Donne Lewis! Winner will be announced at the end of the night!!

Mind | BODY | Soul

Healing the Outside from Within

A Group Exhibition

Curated by Lindsey Yancich and Meg Mowery

October 1 – December 21, 2019

Opening Reception: Friday, October 4th, 7:00-9:00pm

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, social media, and a volatile political climate, American society’s opinions regarding body image are constantly evolving and oftentimes treacherous to navigate. Through platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, a younger generation (that’s YOU!) is now dictating and interrogating their own ideals of beauty and body positivity. In this group exhibition, this new generation of artists and thinkers explore concepts of the body as a catalyst for healing and acceptance.

This event has been postponed. Please check back to register for the new date.

With Tina Lassiter

Collaging, Co-Listening & Cancer infuses collage art with the art of listening as participants are invited to share stories about their cancer journey and the path they are walking with a partner. Come create/“conversate”/listen in a mindful space; bring an open heart, mind and spirit. No arts experience is needed.

About Tina Lassiter

Tina Scott Lassiter is an Integrative Healthcare Consultant & Practitioner who, in the spring of 2016, launched mindful to a T., an entrepreneurial venture that showcases her passion for the healing arts and training in mindfulness/mind body medicine; programs, retreats, & workshops developed for both organizations and individuals are tailored to meet the needs of the client (www.mindful2aT.com). She is certified in Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra, Reiki Levels 1 – 3, and Acupressure and is also a Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist and Infant Massage Teacher. She completed coursework in Integrative Training for Healthcare Professionals; Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction; initial and advanced Mind Body Medicine; Touch Therapy for the NICU; and corporate wellness. One of her personal mindful/art practices was featured on the online version of Spirituality & Health magazine; she was selected to post on the Wellness Within website; and her first book, “morsels of peeps…mindful musings, inspirational thoughts, quiet images” was published in 2018.

In addition to her work in health and wellness, Tina is an accomplished artist and photographer (www.tinascottlassiter.com). Her intricately designed collages, some which focus primarily on the female body form and are referred to as goddesses, had their debut exhibition at Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts, have hung in several other group shows in the DC metropolitan area, and were featured in Body & Soul Connection, a national magazine published by Spirituality & Health; Ms. Lassiter was the featured artist in this same issue. Her goddess series and a body of work addressing issues that affect women serve as the inspiration for workshops designed to tackle self-esteem, body image issues, and current events; enlightening conversation and self-reflection have been provided to participants across the country during these sessions. In 2013, she was commissioned by the Capitol Breast Care Center to create a goddess image that came to represent the strength, courage and resilience of any woman and later received a Community Service Award for her work in the healing arts from Lambda Kappa Mu, a women’s business and professional organization.

Tina served as the Director of Creative & Therapeutic Arts at Children’s National Health System for 15 years.  She spearheaded efforts to bring a comprehensive complementary and integrative care program targeted at patients and families to the hospital organization, delivering her unique brand of mindfulness practices to thousands of patients, families and staff. After developing a complementary care model for caregivers in a medical setting, she was invited by Decision Health to present at several healthcare conferences which led to conducting a webinar for Ernest Health, followed by an interview for an article in the Joint Commission newsletter on the topic of Caring for the Caregiver.  During her tenure, Tina developed and instituted the first organized system for selecting, purchasing, installing, and cataloging art throughout the hospital in addition to establishing a criteria for accepting art donations.  Working closely with area schools and visual arts organizations, she and her staff secured then installed art in all 25 of Children’s off site clinics throughout the area; she collaborated with area interior designers to choose artwork created by children for the annual Show House to benefit the hospital for two years. Her curatorial effort to diversify the types of artwork on display at Children’s brought to the forefront the work of children living with AIDS; young artists with disabilities; a photographer who compiles a photographic record of children with life-threatening illnesses for their families; and local girls who are the victims of or exposed to violence via The Clothesline Project. Not only did she move the latter display to a prominent and highly visible gallery in the hospital, she also added a writing of narratives component, and eventually established and hosted an annual evening of awareness and education for staff, parents, and children; the DC Rape Crisis Center later joined as a hosting partner bringing in artwork and awards for children participating in Who Would You Tell?. She co-designed a forum that provides pediatric medical residents with comprehensive training in the importance of the arts in a medical environment; she was instrumental in the creation of an arts-based program which led to a five-year $1.2M Science Education Partnership Award; and presented at numerous national conferences and seminars discussing the value of arts programming and art in a pediatric setting.

Ms. Lassiter serve(d)s on both grant related and judging panels for various arts organizations; spoke at numerous conferences and seminars on the importance of art in a healing environment; was Art Editor/Columnist for NEWORLD Renaissance, a New York-based multicultural magazine of the arts; and sourced then visited galleries/artists around the country to select art for Black Enterprise Magazine. She is a former Adjunct Instructor for Smith Center for Healing and the Arts where she facilitated a variety of workshops using the cultural arts combined with mindfulness meditation; graduated from the Arts in Medicine Intensive at the University of Florida Center for the Arts in Healthcare Research & Education; holds an MBA in Marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business; and a BA in Communications with a minor in Social Work from Howard University.

with Rick Black, An International prize-winning haiku poet

Slowing down, being attentive and writing haiku can help to affirm our sense of self and renew our awareness of the beauty of the world. Join us for this all-day workshop, which includes a short film and haiku walk. Please bring lunch or snacks and wear comfortable shoes for walking.

This intimate workshop is limited to 8 people. Be sure to RSVP to secure your seat.

Suggested donation: $25

Our programs are open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.

About Rick Black

A poet, book artist and photographer, Rick Black is the founder and owner of Turtle Light Press, a small publishing company that specializes in handcrafted books, fine art prints and note cards. In recent years, Rick has won several awards for his own poetry as well as books that he has published. He has given readings at the Library of Congress and elsewhere around the country. He often takes bike rides in the region and can be spotted taking photographs in and around Arlington, Falls Church, and Washington, D.C.

As he has gotten to know the area, he has begun turning his digital photos into artistic paintings – luminous, colorful and playful. His images have been selected to adorn the rooms of the Hilton Garden Inn in Falls Church. He has exhibited widely in the mid-Atlantic region and his work can be found in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. For close to twenty years, he worked as a journalist, including a three-year stint in the Jerusalem bureau of The New York Times. He also has freelanced for numerous national newspapers and magazines, including The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, and other publications.

To see more of Rick’s books or his artistic photographs, please visit his website:
www.turtlelightpress.com

With Aminah Sané Ghaffar

This program will focus on the ideology of Indigenous medicine from a Native American perspective. You will have a chance to experience the healing power of the Jingle Dress Dance, which is a traditional healing dance that originated from the Ojibwa/Anishinabe tribe. Through storytelling, traditional dance, singing, and drumming, experience the realignment of mind, body, and spirit.

Traditional Native American remedies have been either diluted by mainstream culture or completely rejected or ignored in the conventional medical system. The vast majority of the medicines used today are a direct product of some Indigneous concept. This talk will explore the origins of traditional Indigenous medicines, and how to use them properly and respectfully in your daily lives.

The Jingle dress dance was developed by the medicine people of the Ojibwa tribe to heal the sick granddaughter of the Chief. The dresses are not costumes, they are traditional regalia that are one of a kind and have a unique connection and meaning to the wearers. The sound of the tin jingles that cascade down the dress make the sound of rain coming down on a tin roof. The jingle dress dance is one of the most common powwow dances and is revered in the Indigenous community.

Our programs are open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.

Suggested donation: $15

About Aminah Sané Ghaffar

Aminah Sané Ghaffar is a Lumbee and African American woman from Pembroke, NC. She is a B.S. in Biology from East Carolina University where she also ran track and field and holds the school record for the heptathlon. She earned a Masters from Georgetown University in Physiology and Biophysics with a concentration in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and a recipient of the Hoyas for Science Scholarship. She is an Indigenous rights activist and has spoken at the Women’s March in Annapolis, MD in honor of Missing and Murdered Indigneous Women. She is a two-time panelist at the Shifting the Paradigm Back to Humanity Conference, and has aspirations to attend medical school to serve underserved populations on Native American reservations.

With Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT

In this workshop, we will explore the challenges we have encountered and honor the process that helped us survive and even thrive in the face of such adversities. We will create shrines using small boxes with an inspiring collection of found objects and art supplies to honor our resilience and perseverance.

Previous art experience is not needed in order to benefit from this arts, healing, and creativity program. This workshop is designed for all ranges of artistic experience–you need not consider yourself an artist to attend. Boxes and materials will be provided but you are also invited to bring your own box and any personally meaningful objects that you might want to include in your shrine.

“Consider how truly elegant the design process is that created us so that, in the face of the most difficult time of our lives, there is the possibility—not the certainty but the possibility—of access to states of awareness and experience that enable us to cope with these crises better than we otherwise could.  And consider how remarkable it is that these states of awareness make many people say that they feel more alive and more … than they ever felt before.”  Michael Lerner, Executive Director, Commonweal

About Rebecca Wilkinson

Rebecca is a Registered and Board Certified art therapist with twenty years of experience in mental health and in facilitating training and workshops. She serves as adjunct faculty at George Washington University Graduate Art Therapy Program and provides continuing education and development through the Potomac Art Therapy Association. She facilitates supportive workshops for those affected by life-threatening illness and the professional providers working with them. She is a co-founder of Creative Wellbeing Workshops, LLC, which provides training, consultation, and clinical therapy designed to reduce stress, prevent burnout and increase life satisfaction and wellbeing.