The artists made their way through the room: some stopping by their pieces, and others walking around and studying each other’s works. They placed gold stars on a paper beside the art that resonated with them. They showed off their paintings and collages to attendees, discussing what they enjoyed about the creative process.
It could be mistaken for a gallery opening—but it was the Patient Art Show for TUH-Episcopal Campus’ Extended Acute Care Units. The Art Show was held in two sessions on August 7th, with patients exhibiting works that they had created with the campus’ Registered Art Therapist, Amanda Sommerville, MPS.
“The patients on these units are here for weeks, months, and sometimes a year or two,” Sommerville explains. “I come up to their units once or twice a week for art therapy. But for the Art Show, I wanted to give them the chance to make something more individual, so I asked each of them what they wanted to work on. My goal was to give them autonomy in a place that’s more structured, and for them to explore their feelings through the materials.”
For the last two months, the patients have focused on these pieces, creating work in a variety of mediums. “We have watercolor paintings, acrylic paintings, and mixed media paintings, which are acrylic paintings that may have a 3D element,” Sommerville says. “A few clients also made plaster gauze masks.”
“I use the Expressive Therapies continuum, where you start clients off with a concrete material and work towards getting them to use something more fluid,” she continues. “I’ll encourage them to do layering or work with the construction or deconstruction of different materials, because I’m always trying to get them to a place where they open up a little bit more.”
Helping Patients Find Their Voices
Sommerville, who has been at Episcopal for the last eleven years, knows the powerful impact art therapy can have on patients. “I use art and materials as a vessel to help the people I work with communicate and process emotions, feelings, and experiences,” she explains. “At first, a lot of clients will be uncertain, but then—with extra encouragement and prompting and seeing their peers experiment—they’ll start trying new things and pushing themselves a little bit. They’ll also take risks with the materials that they wouldn’t typically take. And because they’re taking risks and feeling good about what they’ve made, or feeling good about just being able to try something, they’re building up their self-esteem and self-confidence.”
“Art therapy also helps them get out how they’re feeling in the moment,” Sommerville continues. “I’ll always encourage them by saying, ‘Okay, I heard some discomfort. I heard you feeling disappointed. While you’re painting, keep that in mind. And try to work through it.’”
Briana Stinson, LCSW, Episcopal’s Director of Therapeutic Programming, has seen how successful this process can be. “We once had a patient who became really agitated because of some news they had received,” she says. “The patient was so upset when they came to art therapy, but Amanda gave that patient blotting markers, and helped them channel their anger into artwork. I was able to see it happening, and it really worked. I was like, ‘Wow. Art therapy is so powerful.’”
“That’s a technique called sublimation, which I use a lot,” Sommerville explains. “It’s when you take your uncomfortable feelings, or what some people refer to as negative feelings, and use the art-making materials to channel them. It can also help people get through all the stuff that they’ve bottled up, even when they don’t expect it.”
This is especially useful for working through emotions many patients struggle to put into words. “A lot of our patients have experienced some sort of trauma,” Stinson says. “They may have a diagnosis that makes sharing what they’ve gone through difficult, or they can’t verbally express what they’re feeling. Art therapy gives them a way to express themselves without having to use their actual voice.”
'I Feel So Important!'
As her patients prepared for the upcoming Art Show, Sommerville saw them become increasingly enthusiastic about their work. “I watched them get so excited, especially with their use of plaster gauze and different materials,” she says. “Some people said, ‘Wow, I feel like a true artist, because I’m getting messy.’ And I was like, ‘Yes! Mess can be part of the art-making process!’ They were just really surprised about what they could do.”
The art-making process also took on a symbolic meaning. “They had expressed that they were struggling to visualize what their artwork would look like, but I told them to just focus on the process,” Sommerville says. “They really, really loved that layering process. From an art therapy process, layering means healing: it’s like you’re growing new skin over an open wound.”
When the time came for the exhibition, her patients couldn’t have been more thrilled. “Somebody said, ‘I feel so important!’” Sommerville shares. “I put out a paper with three different compliments next to each piece, and I gave out star stickers to all the artists and attendees, so they could put a star sticker where they wanted to leave a compliment. That way, the artists could get positive feedback, and also have a visual of, ‘Wow, I got this many stars!’”
As patients, physicians, therapists, and staff members filled the room, those stars were everywhere—and so were the proud artists themselves, who were shining just as brightly.