A small grant from the Montana Committee for the Humanities and support from a group of physicians, psychologists, pastoral counselors, nurses, and scholars helped us organize our first "Cancer, Courage, and Creativity" workshop in 1993. Poet and filmmaker, Beth Ferris, Youpa Stein, a Registered Drama Therapist trained at The California Institute for Integral Studies, and art therapist, Dorrit Karasek, planned this first group experience integrating drama, poetry, movement, and art--with a grounding in mythology. The group sessions were two and one-half hours each and twelve weeks in duration.

Initially Living Art operated as Arts Alive under the umbrella of Montanans for Quality Television and then later, under Very Special Arts Montana. In 1998, with the assistance of Pamela Kierulff, Living Art achieved non-profit 501 (c) (3) status and launched itself into a new phase attracting the national interest and volunteer assistance of such consultants as Sandra Bertman, PhD, director of the Program of Medical Humanities at the University of Massachusetts and Dr. Elizabeth Clark, then president of the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) in Washington, D.C. NCCS is the primary patient-based political-action group in the country.

Back to Top

*******

Board members have included Beth Ferris, Hedvig Rappe-Flowers, Julie Horton, Linda Fifer, and Suzanne Loewen Blossom Savage, Karen Timchack, Deborah Milton, Z'eva Singer, Peter Lethenstrom, Carol Brunner, Brenda Wheeler, Jane Goffe, Ronnie Morris, Janel Woodworth, Beth Ammons, Susan Gilmore, Pamela Kierulff, Youpa Stein, Lisa Weinreich, Kate Likvan and Liz Dye. Our 2009 board members are Dawn Payne, Marcia Hanks, Shannon Stage, Heidi Brugh, Cyndy Aten, Lori Mitchell and Deni Llovett.

Pamela Kierulff 's background in non-profit administration and her experience of surviving cancer inspired her vision of creating a nurturing retreat for women facing cancer. In 1998 she created a Living Art retreat for women with cancer - "Coming Home to Yourself: An Outdoor Odyssey". Medical Counselor and Pediatric Oncologist Bonnie Vestal, MD (Boise, Idaho), Claire Costello Vermillion, Ph.D., RN, CS (San Francisco, CA.), and cancer survivor Kyle Rocheleau, joined Pamela to develop and facilitate this four-day retreat utilizing nature, art, and cross-cultural healing tools to explore the role of heart and spirit in healing. Based at a residence at Flathead Lake in Northwest Montana there have also been raft trips and gentle walks in Glacier Park and boat trips to "Wild Horse Island." The retreat has also been facilitated by Youpa Stein and storyteller, Cristy West.

Living Art's "Cancer, Courage, and Creativity" workshop has been the sentinel program offering since 1993. In the past few years, a photographic workshop, "Another Look"- Through Imagery and Writing", "Making a Doll to Nourish the Soul" and "My Own True Face" presentations and workshops in Boston, Vancouver, B. C. and throughout Montana expanded our reach to include the brain injured, the bereaved, and professional care-givers. Most recently, we experimented with shorter versions of our "Cancer, Courage, and Creativity" workshops in new venues including the local oncologist office of Dr. Judy Schmidt. During the summer of 2003, Living Art formed a partnership with Women's Health at St. Patrick Hospital which then sponsored our workshop integrating participants with diverse diagnoses and conditions: cancer survivors, heart-attack survivors, and people suffering with fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, and depression. This workshop proved to us that the Living Art "way of working" can be helpful for individuals facing a multiplicity of illnesses and challenges, and that such a "mixed" group can experience a cohesive group process.

In the summer of 2003, Living Art was awarded a two-day session with a Society for Arts in Healthcare (SAH) consultant who traveled to Missoula July 24 – 27th. Our consultant, Lynn Kable, helped to explore the idea of producing a teaching manual and video package as a practical tool to assist communities in creating healing art programs, particularly in rural areas. SAH, with funding from the NEA covered the consultant fee. The award was one of twenty in the nation. The intention of this national initiative is to integrate the arts into healthcare environments, such as hospital settings, medical clinics and other healthcare programs. We are in the process of creating and finding funding to complete this teaching manual.

Back to Top

*******

Community and Education Outreach

Winterfeast

"Winterfeast", a community performance program and fundraising event, celebrates Living Art's belief that creative expression is a fundamental source of our aliveness. After three Winterfeast performances (2001-2003), Living Art is now offering this event every other year. Once again, the event was a success in 2005. There are several group performance opportunities, such as a chorus, drumming, tap and salsa dance. To participate in a group and help support Living Art programs, adults are asked to collect a minimum of $100 in sponsorships or performance or raffle ticket sales. Some participants have or have had an illness, such as cancer, some participants are family members or friends or professional caregivers of people who are ill. Past participants have included people who have no experience and have never performed and some of them share similar stories: "I was told when I was young that I couldn't sing (or I didn't have any rhythm), so I never did (sing, dance, drum)!" To their delight, they have had a great time performing at Winterfeast and found out that song and rhythm are an inherent part of who we are.

Education

During the fall semesters of 2005 and winter session in January 2004, Beth Ferris and Youpa Stein co-taught Whole Person Healing: An Expressive Arts Approach class at the University of Montana for mostly graduate Social Work students. An experiential component of a six-session mask-making and writing workshop was incorporated into the class and the six session format seemed to work better than the shorter four session format.

Art Exhibit

Our research and experience informs us of how powerful creating can be for an individual in their healing process. Feedback inspired us to create an art exhibit using the body of work created in our Living Art workshops (with participant permission.). Workshop participants who share their work have said they feel honored that their experience is valued and acknowledged. Cancer survivors and others who face illness feel less alone. Family members who view the exhibit have remarked that it helped them gain insight into their loved one's experience. On several occasions the exhibit has opened avenues of communications between family members. Community members come away with a greater understanding of what it means to have cancer or other serious illnesses. The exhibit is an educational tool that reaches the heart and fosters compassion, which we feel is an important component of community health. The exhibit's initial curator was former group member and artist Hedvig Rappe- Flowers. The exhibit has been shown in several venues including: local restaurants, the Missoula Museum for the Arts, the "Breast Cancer Conference", an Institute for Medicine and the Humanities presentation, Missoula's Relay for Life, and Society for Arts in Healthcare International Conference 2005 (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Western Montana Integrative Healthcare Alliance Bridging the Gap Conference in Missoula February 2005 and 2006, Living Art's "Winterfeast." In the beginning it was entitled "Families Talking to Families: Art Speaks About Cancer" which has been funded largely by Target, Inc. Our goal was to continue to expand this exhibit to a professional, interactive traveling art exhibit. The goal has become a reality for the newly titled; "Expressions for Healing" exhibit. The American Holistic Medical Association Conference in June 2006 hosted our exhibit, with over 800 Holistic Professionals viewing the powerful messages shared through poetry and masks from our workshops.

Back to Top

*******

Video

Living Art has produced a 26-minute, polished sample reel of its video-in-progress, "A Door in the Dark: A Story of Art and Healing." When completed, this will be an educational training tool to introduce other communities, physicians and other healthcare workers to the value of the expressive arts for supporting whole person healing and wellness. The values fostered in "A Door in the Dark" focus on "Care Beyond Cancer". The creative workshops provide a safe container for each person to explore his or her confusion and fears. Through creativity, a new meaning coalesces out of the shattered self. We need to raise $7,000 to complete the video.

Research

Living Art is committed to researching the effectiveness of the expressive arts and nature-based experiences for promoting well-being. Qualitative and quantitative research is an important element of Living Art's evaluation of its programs. Working with Clinical Psychologist David Schuldberg, Ph.D., we have conducted assessments for many of the Living Art workshops. Some of our research has shown that "both individually and as a group, members experience a decrease in distress and an increased sense of well-being." The assessment tools we have explored include Beck's Depression Inventory, Symptom Checklist 90, the Hope Scale and more recently the quality of life measurement SF 36 v2. The psychologist and pediatric oncologist involved with the first "Coming Home Retreat" designed a qualitative evaluation. This was assessed by Claire Costello Vermillion, Ph.D., RN, CS. "Most of the women were looking for a new healing experience using creativity, spirituality, and nature as its source. These goals were achieved by most." Living Art welcomes dialogue about research.

Publications

• Social Work Today, March 10, 2003 (p. 8) Voice of the Spirit: Creativity at the End of Life. Living Art work is featured on the cover and an article.

• "Illness, Crisis and Loss" Vol. 10, January 2002 (42-50). "Care Beyond Cancer: The Culture of Creativity." An article by Beth Ferris and Youpa Stein.

• American Journal of Nursing, April 200, Volume 100, Number 4. "The Art of Nursing: The Mask and Meaning". (p. 44) Photographs from Living Art workshops taken by Pamela Kierulff and Beth Ferris.

• Alternative & Complimentary Therapies, Vol. 4, No. 6, December 1998 (p.397). An excerpt about Living Art's Retreat "Coming Home to Yourself: An Outdoor Odyssey"

Administration

Back to Top

*******