Workshop Activity: Using Visual Arts as a Rejuvenation Tool

Time length: About 1 hour

Materials:  
•    Large pieces of poster board (1 per participant) to use as a canvas
•    Paints
•    Glue
•    Creative materials to use as a paint application tool: brush, sponge, pine-cone, sock, stones, straws, pipe cleaners
•    Inspirational music
•    Wet wipes or something for participants to quickly clean themselves up
•    Drop cloths
•    Newspaper

Audience: Elementary school to adult, depends on wording or questions

Setup:
•    Create poster stations (1 for each person)
•    Stations can be on tables (covered with newspaper, drop cloths on the floor), as well as on easels or clothes-pinned to foam core
•    Each station, place a bowl of paint with 1 color and 1 tool

This activity is about releasing stress and expressing joy through the visual arts.  It is a simple process that gets people out of their heads and connecting to colors, shapes, textures and patterns.
Instructions:
•    At each station, artists will respond to one question for exactly 2 minutes, while we play music
•    At the end of the 2 minutes, artists will carry their “canvas” with them to station 2, and respond to the next question for 1 minute
•    This continues for 4 rounds, 4 questions

Questions:
1.    What worries you? (5 min)
2.    What frees you? (4 min)
3.    What weights you? (3 min)
4.    What releases you? (2 min)

Instructions
•    Have participants re-set their station they are ending at by:
o    throwing away wet newspapers and replacing them with fresh ones for the next group
o    place “tools” in a bucket to soak, and replace a new tool for group 2
o    wipe down any wet paint with paper towels

De-brief
•    Close the workshop with a gallery walk of the art created in the space
•    Have participants gather in a circle and do a one-word closing