“When all else seems lost and steeped in hopelessness, the magic of creativity can still keep you going.” – Jyoti Arora
Earlier this summer at the national art therapy conference in Baltimore, inspiration for a new creative collaboration was sparked during a 6 Degrees of Creativity meet-up, as well as a focus group I led on social media’s impact on creative motivation. These initial dialogues resulted in art therapist Nancy Lautenbach and me to brainstorm ideas for a new creative collaboration. In the spirit of the Creative Deed Project launched by 6 Degrees of Creativity in 2014 and Nancy’s viewing of The Big Hope Show at the American Visionary Art Museum while we were in Baltimore, we are excited to announce a postcard art exchange called “Art-filled Hope”.
The project: Create 3 handmade postcards with original art that will be sent through the postal mail to three different individuals also participating in the exchange. You will also receive three postcards/art in return from fellow participants! Participants are responsible for the shipping of their postcard art, which may include international postage, depending on the recipient’s mailing address. Postcard art should be mailed out by October 1, 2016.
Theme: Fill your postcards with hope inspired art to exchange with art therapists and other creatives around the world! We can always use a little hope in our lives, to release into the world and to others in the spirit of affirmation, courage, and possibility.
How to sign up: Please send an email to 6degreesofcreativity@arttherapyalliance.org with your full name and mailing address. By signing up for this exchange, you agree to meet the project’s mailing deadline and to follow through with sending your postcard art to your assigned destinations. Please do not sign up for this creative collaboration if you are unable to commit to these expectations. Deadline to sign up is September 8. Participants will receive the mailing addresses they are sending to shortly after this deadline via email.
Participants involved in this exchange are also encouraged to email an image of their art, so it can be shared with the 6 Degrees of Creativity community on Facebook— filling social media with our hopeful messages and art for others to experience!
Some recent hope-filled resources to help inspire and inform your art making and ideas about this theme include:
- This PDF of exhibition quotes from The Big Hope Show;
- How hope can help you heal CNN news article: The physiological benefits of hope on our well-being, including how community and the people who surround us can influence and spread its impact;
- 5 ways hope improves your success Daily Fulfillment article featuring research and advantages that having a hope inspired mindset can have on well-being and future
We look forward to what the theme from this exchange inspires, the connection it creates, and as an opportunity to share and spread the power of hope through art!
TEDx Rehearsal 
TEDx Ursuline College 
TEDx Ursuline College 
