“Making art curbed my drug appetite and helped me heal from mental illness.”
This is just one of the positive pieces of feedback that we hear from our consumers that have taken advantage of the Center’s art room. The Wellness Center has a thriving art program which is helping to lead our consumers out of the shadows of addiction, depression and other mental health issues and to express their feelings on canvas. The philosophy of the art room is that art heals the heart and the mind therefore the main focus is the process of recovery with a problem/solution approach.
We offer many different types of therapies to help consumers move forward in their recovery, but we find an artistic outlet so important that our art room has been in existence for over 10 years. Monthly approximately 25 people take advantage of this therapy where at the beginning of each lesson students sit quietly in a 5 minute guided meditation to open their creative channels which helps them to focus on what they want to create.
The art room is a place of healing, peace and creativity where the instructor teaches drawing and painting and encourages students to use different media techniques such as charcoal, pencil, acrylic, watercolor and tempera to help express their emotions. The consumers also display and sell their paintings, jewelry and crafts at an art show which takes place approximately twice a year and recently they have just opened the “Healing Arts Shop and Gallery” to sell their items year round.
If you are interested in participating in art classes or in purchasing art please contact the Victory Wellness Center at (818) 989-7475.
