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The Bodyscapes Mini

A fast and furious, one-hour experience when only limited time is available (great for lunchtime) or as an introduction for organizations and decision makers to how Bodyscapes works. Red & Orange House provides worksheets, art materials and guidance so that people can create their own haiku/rap/poem and/or pastel drawing.

Bodyscapes Healing Art Workshop:

A four-hour, guided journey (for up to 25 participants) to imagine and create our own new autobiographical narratives in the form of haiku/rap/poetry and pastel drawings. Red & Orange House provides all art materials and gentle, non-judgmental guidance. A workshop can span an entire afternoon or be broken into two sessions, on the same or separate days.

A Bodyscapes Experience: 

A full Bodyscapes Experience (for up to 15 participants) begins with a Bodyscapes Healing Art Workshop and culminates in an art exhibition with an opening night reception where artists can choose to speak their haiku/rap/poetry out loud for their friends, family and the greater community for dynamic healing interaction. The artwork and poetry are photographed and reproduced in an art exhibition catalog. Each artist receives one free copy.

What’s the impact of each element of a Bodyscapes Experience?

A.) Workshops:

Our workshop creates space for people to share, sort through and connect over complex issues arising from their experience of illness or trauma and discover commonalities of experience and response. Bodyscapes poetry opens pathways to expression obstructed by trauma, stigma and cultural inhibitions. Our artists create autobiographical narratives that transform them from victims to interpreters, from powerless to empowered and resilient.

B.) Art exhibition and opening night reception with performative action:

Displaying art gives voice and visibility to the artists and helps break down the stigma, silence and isolation surrounding trauma and/or illness. The vivid and personal retelling of life narratives through artistic form captures more sensuous meaning of memories and associations, stimulating new insights for illness-free viewers into the challenges, pain, joys and triumphs of living with trauma and/or illness,  leading to increased awareness, empathy and acceptance. 

The opening night reception creates a shared space for people to tap into their potential for healing—not just for our artists but also for our communities desperately  in need of healing from their wounds. 

C.) Art Exhibition Catalog:

At the outset, most Bodyscapes participants do not self-identify as artists. The art exhibition catalog documents their inclusion in the art exhibition. This glossy, full color, high caliber, printed booklet becomes a legacy keepsake for themselves, their family and their community. 

Co-create a Bodyscapes Experience with Red & Orange House

Peer Focus Group:  Members of your group and staff intimately understand your group’s lived experience.  In order to produce a Bodyscapes Experience more accurately focused on their specific needs, Red & Orange will conduct a Bodyscapes Mini workshop (in preparation for the full workshop) for up to 5 people selected by you. This group will engage with the process and offer their thoughts/experiences and insights as a tool to help ROH customize your Bodyscapes experience. 

Develop your Theme: Bodyscapes art-making can explore any themes which connect to your members. Your theme can be developed during a Peer Focus Group workshop or directly in consultation with Diane Sciarretta.

• Possible themes include:

• Stigma and isolation associated with trauma and/or illness

• Power dynamics and gender inequalities as they relate to one’s own life journey.

• Aging

• Domestic violence

• Challenges arising from major life changes/including sexual transitions.

• Persecution, exile and immigration, and the desire to create a sense of belonging in a new community.

Pricing and Funding

Our fees vary based on the type of Bodyscapes program selected and the time and materials involved. For instance, there are additional fees for production and printing of art catalogs, and for organizing and staging an Art Exhibition with Opening Night Reception and Performative Action.

Red & Orange House is willing to partner with your organization to seek grant funding or assist in seeking private funding, and at times may be able to partially fund a program with monies provided by its own donors.