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Local guest artists will participate in a series of workshops on arts and wellness funded by the San Benito Arts Council and hosted by San Juan Bautista’s Luna Gallery. The March 15 workshop will feature Kira Carrillo Corser, co-founder of the Wellness for Children Project. She will also hold a silk painting class at the gallery on March 16.
“The idea is to bring people from out of the area to work with students and the public,” said the gallery’s founder, Jennifer Colby. “A lot of our conceptions about art are as something beautiful, but we will look into art as a healing process in itself.”
The series will provide activities and interactions with the hosted artist that Colby promises will provide unique perspectives on how art can connect with participants’ feelings about themselves and their relationships with those around them.
In her workshop, Corser will draw from her experience as a cancer survivor. Given a 50% chance of survival, she said that she survived using techniques such as relaxed breathing and audio tapes made by her friends to help her relax while undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.
“A year after that,” she said, “my best friend’s three-year-old got leukemia, and they asked me to go to Stanford Children’s Hospital to help them through it.”
Shocked to discover that there were few resources to help young children cope with the procedures and the fear, she began creating materials for that purpose. During her search for ways to communicate, she became aware of the importance of rhyme.
“Young children are really interested in rhyme,” she said. “because it synthesizes the right and left brain while it is growing to form pathways.”
Awakened at 5 a.m. by magpies on her roof, she began making rhymes and stories about Sam Iguana and his animal friends. Her first book about Sam was about the importance of friends and how bandages are a badge of honor.
During her workshop, Corser will be showing a video and reading stories that teach relaxing breathing and using the imagination “when you’re afraid or sick or just grouchy.” She said participants will then make a pillowcase to take home that represents a safe, happy place and can calm them in situations where they are afraid or feeling hurt.
“The objective is for communities to have an opportunity to come together intergenerationally to experience the arts,” she said. “We hope they leave feeling more comfortable with the creative process and that their families can feel more healthy having had this experience.”
The workshops are held on Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. and are open to adults and children. Children under eight must be accompanied by an adult. There is a limit of 18 people and registration is free.
Several of Corser’s silk paintings relating to wellness are currently on display at Luna Gallery, and she will hold a silk painting workshop from noon to 4 p.m. on March 16. The workshop will include music performed by Maria Kostelas, who will also hold an art and wellness workshop on March 20 at Luna Gallery. The silk painting class is limited to 10 people, and a $135 registration fee covers supplies.
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