14th Annual Grieving Children’s Art Show
March
Imagine being a child and learning that your mother was killed in a car accident. Who can you talk to about this sudden tragic loss and who will understand? Although family and friends of all ages are impacted when a loved one dies, sometimes there is uncertainty of how to reach out to children and teens.
Jewish Family Service counseling staff, through the Dozoretz Center for Healing and Jessica Glasser Therapeutic Pavilion, specializes in helping individuals of all ages cope with loss and grieving. One component of this program is a free support group for children, teens, and their families who have experienced the death of a loved one: Peace by Piece. This program is facilitated by Edmarc Hospice for Children, in collaboration with JFS.
JFS and Edmarc co-sponsor an annual art show—now in its 14th year—that displays the creative drawings and words of local grieving children and teens. This is an opportunity for children and teens to share their feelings and to learn that they are not alone. The art show is open to any school-aged youth in Tidewater who has experienced a loved one’s death. Over the past 13 years, more than 350 images have been submitted.
After the Grieving Children’s Art Show, artwork will be displayed for one night only for Peace by Piece families on May 31. Then, the artwork will return to either JFS or Edmarc for display throughout the year.
For more information on the exhibit, program, or services offered by JFS, contact Debbie Mayer, LCSW, at JFS at 757-459-4640 or DMayer@jfshamptonroads.org.
ALUT—Courageous Expressions
In observance of Autism Awareness Month
April
Courageous Expressions, an original and captivating art exhibition that serves to champion self-expression, particularly as a powerful tool of connectivity for those lacking alternative modes of communication, will be on exhibit and available for purchase.
Courageous Expressions is a mixed media, group exhibition based on a variety of works created by untrained artists from the Israeli Society for Autistic Children (the ALUT Institute), a leading care provider for individuals with autism in Israel. Exhibited works are derived from either the ALUT Institute’s occupational homes or care centers, which deliver services to those with autism who need fulltime or daily supervision.
The exhibition’s body of work is both uniquely beautiful and interestingly abstract, while individual works are supremely complex in depicting the expressive voice behind each piece. Often the artist’s only or more comprehensive voice, each piece warrants a narrative depth far beyond what meets the eye.
This exhibition seeks to inspire ongoing creativity and authenticity, honor the courage of all artistic expression, and stimulate unbridled acceptance. In addition, the exhibition emphasizes autism on a global scale, as well as provides a platform for Israeli art that differs from mainstream narratives too often found among current events of the region.
Courageous Expressions hopes to promote access to the untapped, organic, and powerful voices of the ALUT Institute’s many talented artists.
All pieces are for sale and can be purchased at the Simon Family JCC Front Desk. Proceeds will go towards additional art classes in the ALUT employment centers for young adults with severe autism in Israel, as an additional means of therapy and rehabilitation.
For more information about this exhibit or future exhibits, contact Melissa Eichelbaum, program department associate, at MEichelbaum@ujft.org or 321-2304.