On March 5, 2014, we shared the final Arts & Dreams empowering art workshop in our series of 7 with middle-school youth during their after school programming at Red Hook Initiative.
We reviewed the previous six workshops and what we accomplished together - learning to love ourselves, being kind, using our creativity and dreaming big! Everyone has something unique to offer and our role is to discover what our unique gift that brings us joy and to share it with others.
Creating a Dream Board is a visual reminder of what we love and want in life, which helps invite our big dreams into reality. We provided stretched canvases, acrylic paints, photos, appliques and images from magazines. We printed some of Patricia's photos from our previous workshops for the youth to keep or use on their Dream Board.
Before we wrapped up with mirror work, we had two more surprises: cupcakes from Billy's Bakery and a special reading of the Arts & Dreams book draft. While they snacked, we explained we're writing a book - which no one else has seen yet - about the topics we've discussed and the art we created during our workshops: how we can use creativity to empower ourselves, to dream big dreams, and to truly love who we are. We are grateful that our buddies at RHI agreed to give a listen and an affirming nod to our dream creation in draft form!
It’s been a beautiful journey with RHI this winter, and we remain so inspired by the amazing group of youth. We were there to educate, and we wound up learning so much from you all. Thank you, Samora Coles, Jade Elias, Ricky Santana and everyone Red Hook Initiative. Onward, youth! You're all unique geniuses and we love you!
