| WHO | WHAT | HOW | WHY | WHERE | VIDEO | MEDIA | DETAILS & DOWNLOADS |
Watch our new 4-minute video produced by Rachel Julkowski!
:: Low Res (small file) :: High Res (large file)
— Carlos, age 14, in a poem about the shooting death of his older brother
Every day in America, children face enormous events that people of any age would find difficult to endure. For young people the emotional toll is heavy, and often suffered throughout their lives. Imagine the cavernous depth of Carlos's loss. Listen to Khlib, a 15-year-old in a residential treatment center, who found his voice and a way to express his pain through writing poetry:
“People who have never heard the word poetry are still poets. When I was full of anger, breaking things, or just keeping warm inside myself crying, that was my poetry...when you can identify what your poetry is saying and start using the canvas of your world and not just breaking things there is so much flavorful love. I’ve learned how to voice my soul through poetry, and it’s just invigorating to think back to when I always had these feelings inside me, but I never let the world see my shine.”
What is our obligation to children who lose family members to violence, alcoholism, or drug addiction? What can we offer those whose lives are fractured by emotional or sexual abuse?
Art from Ashes Inc. is a Colorado nonprofit organization formed in 2003 to address the therapeutic needs of high-risk young people through poetry and other creative arts. The Phoenix Rising writing and spoken word process was developed after extensive research and 14 years of working with high-risk youth. Art from Ashes contracts with other youth service organizations to provide therapeutic poetry and creative arts workshops for high-risk youth, including youth in residential treatment, those who live in urban settings, are homeless, incarcerated, court-involved—any young person in need of hope and a self-determined future.
:: CLICK HERE for a list of facilitators, staff and volunteers.
WHAT WE DO
The Phoenix Rising process combines expression, the articulation of painful events or circumstances in their young lives; connection, the ability to release the pain and fear of those experiences among peers and mentors; and healing, using the power of strong, healthy words to encourage an identity that is not based in victimization. Recent statistics of our work with youth conducted by the National Research Center have shown that of the participants surveyed, 100% of the youth enjoyed the workshops; 73% feel better about themselves; 80% cared more about the feelings of others; and 80% wanted to be more involved in their community.
You can help us reach more youth with your tax-deductible cash donation. CLICK HERE to view our sponsorship levels or download the information here.
Please donate online through GivingFirst.org, a program of Community First Foundation, that provides a link between giving and the community.
Offers of assistance and in-kind donations would also be very much appreciated. For other ways in which you can help, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Melissa Kemp or link to our SUPPORT page.
:: CLICK HERE for a list of our facilitators, staff and volunteers.
HOW IT WORKS
As early as the first century, physicians were prescribing poetry for their patients. Benjamin Franklin used poetry therapy with his patients in the 18th century and published their work. Many other scientists and doctors, including Freud, Adler, Jung, and Reik have attributed much of the understanding of the subconscious to poetry. Today there are institutes and places of higher education that support poetry and other creative arts therapies. Because of their effectiveness in dealing with trauma, the benefits of poetry for health and wholeness are now recognized by those in contemporary medical and scientific communities.
“By encouraging people to put difficult emotions and memories into words, writing therapy provides therapeutic release. For this reason it has been shown to be particularly beneficial for those who tend to keep their feelings internalized. After a session of writing therapy, many people say they feel calmer and more in control.In addition, scientists believe that the release offered by writing affects the body's physical capacity to withstand stress and to fight off stress-related infection and disease. Writing therapy has also been shown to have a positive impact on heart rate and blood pressure.”
—WholeHealthMD.com
The benefits of catharsis, connection and healing are long-term for the participants. Guided poetry writing workshops focus on these three vital processes to restore a sense of value and purpose to high-risk youth:
Providing an opportunity for young people to express themselves can draw them out of isolation—and listening carefully to what they have to say is therapeutic in itself. As Paul Tillich contends, "listening is the first duty of love." Additionally, writing and hearing your own judgments, emotions and behaviors is key to self-awareness.
Because most young people in the workshops recognize the love and respect being afforded them, they also begin to acknowledge that others—of various cultures, races, religions and lifestyles—have similar experiences and emotions. This awareness serves to reconnect isolated young people, not only with the others but also with the poem itself:
“The poem, as an externalization of the participant's thoughts and feelings, becomes symbolically an understanding "someone" with whom the patient can share his despair.”
Thirdly, using specific poetry prompts to tap into the imaginative right brain, young people begin to understand their creative power and can be guided into an awareness of their value and a recognition of their purpose.
WHY WE DO ITRather than declaring the behavior of high-risk youth an outrage and filling our correctional institutions with discarded young lives, supporting poetry programs is a positive and vastly more effective approach. The best way we can show our commitment to youth is to empower them to live healthy and productive lives. If young people feel heard and respected, if they develop a sense of self that is not based on the messages of failure they have received, and if they can relate to the struggles and dreams of others, they can begin to create a positive future for themselves and for their communities.
WHERE WE ARE
Art from Ashes moved in July 2007 to our new offices at 853 Inca St., Suite 1A, Denver CO 80204, in the Santa Fe Arts District. We are in the same building as Artwork Network art studios, but with a separate door and address. Come visit us!
VIDEO
Watch a 4-minute video produced by Rachel Julkowski
:: Low Res (small file)
:: High Res (large file)
Please contact us if you'd like to be sent a DVD of our video :: info@artfromashes.org
MEDIA
:: LISTEN to our interview with BBC World News following the Virginia Tech tragedy (featuring Devon Adams, Columbine student and participant of the therapeutic poetry workshops 1999-2003)
:: LISTEN to a KGNU radio interview with Catherine O'Neill Thorn about the August 2007 First Friday Art Walk performance
:: LISTEN to a 2006 KGNU radio interview with Catherine O'Neill Thorn about Art from Ashes therapeutic workshops
:: 2005 Rocky
Mountain News article by Tina Griego
:: 2004 Denver Post article about our work at The Spot
:: 2004 Denver Radio article
:: 2003 Rocky Mountain News article by Tina Griego
:: 2000 Rocky Mountain News article on Columbine High School workshops
DETAILS & DOWNLOADS
Non-Discrimination Policy
Values Statement
Inclusivity Statement
:: CLICK HERE to download previous versions of our newsletter The Ascent or sign up on the left to receive it via email (quarterly)
For more information on our program:
:: CLICK HERE for a list of facilitators, staff and volunteers.
:: download information pdf (600 KB)
:: download a youth survey funded by the Colorado Council on the Arts (438 KB)
For more information on our workshops:
:: CLICK HERE for information on our current, previous and upcoming youth workshops
:: CLICK HERE for information on our current and upcoming adult workshops
Youth writing workshops serve up to 20 young people in a two-hour session. Adult writing workshops are limited to six people per one-hour session. Groups can be tailored to meet the needs of young singles, married couples, single parents, women only, men only, youth or children. Individual sessions also are available.
:: CLICK HERE to contact our Director of Programs to discuss our fees.
Please call or email us to receive additional information on how this time-tested and effective process can help young people heal and grow through creative expression.