ArtThread Foundation: Creativity for a cause

Art, Dance, and Music on Stage Together

We are always amazed at the innovative ways our partners find to use ArtThread's art making tools. VSA Florida artist and National Dance Week delegate Anna Preston was the driving force behind the collaborative and mixed media event called A Dance For Everyone.

 

 This National Dance Week 2011 celebration included a mixed bill dance concert featuring local and professional dance troupes as they come together to support VSAFL, the state organization on arts and disability. Special guests included Karen Peterson and Dancers, a professional company out of Miami that embraces differences. They took the stage with an ArtThread collaborative visual art performance, along with the musical group Zen Fuse Box.

 

Anna Preston adds this: Karen Peterson and Dancers were also featured on the concert bill but the professional dance company that collaborated with ArtThread and Zen Fuse Box was Anna Preston & Dancers. The company members pictured are Jasmine Bishop, Lindsay Davis, Jen Jacoby, Lisa Langford, and Chelsea Varsaci. The piece was costumed by Elissa Zeltzer and the visual artists were Bruno Chagas and Ben Parson, mentored in ArtThread by Dan Galloway.

 

The dancers performed while artists used ArtThread's Splash software to paint a live and interactive background for the dancers. You can see their work in the pictures above. The event took place at the Lyric Theater on May 1 in Stuart, FL.

 

Art, music, and dance all united on stage - fantastic!

 

 

The Healing Power of Art

by David Haas

Anyone battling cancer knows the value of therapy. Be it medicinal, psychological, or homeopathic, therapy is one of the biggest weapons when fighting a disease like cancer. Whether you are fighting a rare and terminal disease such as mesothelioma, or you are dealing with breast cancer, everyone who suffers from cancer is engaged in the same fight. Cancer affects everyone differently, yet all the same.

While there are many medicinal routes to take when fighting cancer, and many of which are proven successes, one avenue to pursue to improve ones mind psychologically when dealing with cancer is art. Art therapy encompasses multimedia, meaning that its approach incorporates painting, drawing, music, and other forms of art. By incorporating art and creativity into your cancer treatment, you may find it easier to cope with the realities of this deadly disease.

Cancer, in and of itself, can be a very frightening experience. Many people find themselves lost when they are diagnosed with cancer. For instance, due to the recent amount of media attention, those with a mesothelioma prognosis may find themselves very scared. Art therapy can help these people cope with those feelings by creating a tranquil environment outside the cancer experience.

If you have been diagnosed with cancer and are seeking all treatment options, including alternative therapies, making art may be right for you. Art as therapy involves getting cancer patients involved in stress reducing activities, such as painting, playing or learning to play an instrument, as well as discovering creativity using mixed media. Studies have show that those who keep their mind, body, and spirit occupied have a lesser chance of contracting a disease, and a greater chance of fighting off diseases. In terms of cancer, patients show greater improvement when they are engaged in artistic activities, compared to those who are not.

Of course, cancer affects everyone differently and the methods of treatment that work for one may not work for another, but when battling a disease such a cancer, it is important to try every option available. Art therapy continues to be of great help, both to those suffering from cancer, and to the families and caregivers. Sharing that creativity from within and creating something (feeling a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day) is what art therapy is all about. Patients with cancer who engage in activities that stimulate the brain show a better healing rate when compare to cancer patients who do not engage in any artistic activities.

 

Our guest blogger David Haas is a cancer patient advocate for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. David wants to make a difference in patient's lives because cancer has devastated so many people in this world. He loves to write and share opinions, feelings, and views with others. "I love my job, because I get to help cancer patients all over the United States." David also enjoys rock climbing, racquetball, golf, and watching sports.

The ArtThread Gallery is a great place to start exploring your creative side. Go for it!

 

New Splash Art: Grass Lights and Tones

We've been getting some wonderful new art made by ArtThread thrivors using Splash!, our online art-making tool.  This online app encourages you to explore it's game-like interface - you can simply click around and watch the art unfold.  Or you can dive in with a vision and something like this:

This one, called Grass Lights, is the work of one of our favorite artists, and you can see more of her work in the thread where this art lives - Magic and Mystery.  

Here's another one, made by creating a piece and then stamping multiple images of it on another canvas.  Looks like it should be hanging at MOMA:

This one is part a series of black and white pieces.  Check out the Tones thread and  see some of the monochrome possibilities.

Jump in - spend a minute and make a piece for yourself - you deserve it!

Why should we make art?

"I'm not an artist."

When we train people to use the ArtThread Online Gallery, we often hear that phrase.  There seems to be a wide-spread belief that before we can make art we must possess some magical talent.  You can see the nervousness in people when we tell them to "just go for it!" 

Besides the fear of making a mistake, we also sense a question: why?  Why should we make art?  It seems many of us have been deprived of the permission and the opportunity to be creative, yielding a collective memory loss of the "aha" moment that so wonderfully arrives during creative expression. 

The latest issue of Greater Good magazine (soon to be web-only) is devoted to the theme "Why Make Art." In "The Birth of the Arts" author Ellen Dissanayake says "the arts transmit value systems and stories that serve to unite individuals in social groups."  Probably true, but not much use when we stare at the blank canvas and wonder how to begin.  

How about this: "...artistic rituals and ceremonies help persuade people to devote themselves to ideals that transcend narrow self-interest: loyalty, generosity, hard work, unselfishness, patriotism, and even the sacrifice of one's life." Now we're getting somewhere, but still rather high-fallutin'.  

In another article in the same issue (Why We Make Art), dancer Gina Gibney says "In life we experience so much fragmentation of thought and feeling.  ...creating art brings things back together."  Pete Docter, director of the recent Pixar film "Up," says "It's fun making things."  That's the one -  we are hard-wired to get enjoyment out of the act of creating something.

Though we may innately know that "making things" is important, who has time?  Our ultra-connected lives can ultimately lead us to be ultra-disconnected from the well of creativity waiting inside us.  How do we start sipping from that well?

Not to worry - creativity easily leaks into every facet of our lives.  Observe yourself making breakfast - you are an artist!  Carlin Flora knows it.  In her article "Everyday Creativity" in the latest issue of Psychology Today, she says we can tap into our creativity by doing things (there it is again!) "that don't sound intimidatingly ingenious."  Maybe the word 'creativity' is too high-fallutin':

"When we think of creativity, we think of Mozart, Picasso, Einstein—people with a seemingly fated convergence of talent and opportunity. It's too narrow a set of references, because the truth is that all sorts of people, possessing various levels of intelligence and natural ability, are capable of engaging in fulfilling creative processes. Just because you'll never be Brando or Balanchine doesn't mean that you can't harness your idea-generating powers and make your life your own masterpiece."

That one is worth repeating - make your life your own masterpiece.  That's why we tell everyone to go for it.

"I am an artist!"

Embrace the Mistakes

Remember that Bill Cosby routine where the surgeon says, "Oops"?  Not what you want to hear at that moment.  But during the creative process those "oops" moments can be the spark that sets you down a new path.

In the latest issue of his wonderful newsletter "The Painter's Keys," Robert Genn writes about artists and mistakes:

"Don't assume mistakes are a bad thing.  Don't think for one minute that everyone agrees with what "good" is... Don't fall into the trap of thinking perfection is attainable or even desirable.  Don't assume the existence of error." 

We know error can exist, but Robert points us toward a clearing of the mind when we embark on something new.  By forgetting the possibility of error we open ourselves up to the the possibility of the creating something totally fresh.  This works for art in all its forms - making breakfast, arranging your desk, or dipping your brush into that first bit of paint.  

Dive in - you can't make a mistake!

ArtThread - Creativity for a Cause

Technology can be married with creative expression in meaningful ways. Take for instance the Tour De France 2009, the premier cycling event in the world. In this epic battle of the best in the world Lance Armstrong, and his Livestrong Global Cancer Initiative teamed up with Nike and some very creative minds at Carnegie Mellon University to come up with the Chalkbot, a machine that captured and reproduced inspirational online social media messages for Lance and his team, and then painted them on the roads of the Tour De France. Inspiration, creativity motivation, social media, and technology all coming together for a great cause. With our Creativity for a Cause campaign ArtThread fuses its technology with crucial causes such as the fight against cancer and children’s hunger, offering a means for the public to communicate creatively about their passion. This builds a community around a meaningful cause and offers another needed fund-raising strategy for these good causes. ArtThread’s Creativity for a Cause — Express Yourself — Raise Your Spirits — Raise the Bar — Raise Some Money for the right reasons! Wear you Art with an ArtThread Creativity for a Cause T-Shirt.

Creativity, Technology, Cancer and Pain

Mainstream thought tells us that art heals emotional, spiritual and psychic wounds. Now a team of neurological and psychiatric researchers at the University of Bari in Italy have confirmed in their recent study that it helps in lowering pain.

We at ArtThread believe in the validity and need for this type of research that could benefit cancer patients. As new cutting edge cancer protocols yield an increase in survivorship, they often increase the psychological and physical distress of the patient. Years ago (April, 1984, Science) Roger Ulrich, now Director of the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A & M, demonstrated that gardens do better than brick walls for reducing length of stay and narcotic use by post-op patients. So the natural question follows: Can creativity in the form of art-making improve health outcomes for cancer patients? Researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital recently published research in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management that shows art makes a difference.

So ArtThread wants to extend the question, the dialog, the research and the support for cancer patients. Take this research cited above and add on the community created by connections on the ArtThread Interactive Gallery, and then mix in the ability for the cancer patient to add their ArtThread art (and others) to their environment using any of the tools at their disposal e.g. touch-screen LCD, Ipod, social networking sites, or cell phones. Whether it’s in the chemotherapy chair, at home or in the hospital, technology in the form of a laptop, an I-Phone, or a standard desktop computer, they all can deliver art – art made by and shared by a community of survivors that support each other. Creativity and technology  can be used to improve the Quality of Life for cancer patients.

ArtThread One-of-a-Kind Store Now Online

One of the great things about creative expression is that moment you show someone your work and say, "I made that!"  ArtThread has a way to give you that experience. When you make a piece of art online with Splash!, or upload a photo or a scan from your computer, you get a chance to allow that work to be imprinted on custom made clothing and accessories.  Every piece of art on the Gallery can have this option, and when you see this icon below the art you can go for it! Click on that icon and you get a chance to pick from a variety of wonderful products, and you can even do more customization before you make your purchase.  This fantastic flexibility is due to our partnership with Electric Owl Studios and Zazzle.com. Here's an example of how it works - click this shirt to check it out!   Or, go directly to the ArtThread store and support our mission to make creative expression available to everyone.