Art Therapy Studio: Creating Art for Wellness’ Sake

Marc focuses on careful, calculated brushstrokes.

With delicate hand movements, Kat molds a clay sculpture.

Bill is putting the finishing touches on a week-long collage project.

 

Art Therapy Studio (1)

No matter the medium, the goal of their artwork isn’t to be sold; the goal is to heal.

To grow mentally and physically. To communicate feelings that cannot be expressed through words. To discover and celebrate their inner creative abilities.

 

This is the basis for the Art Therapy Studio’s (ATS) “Discover the Artist Within You” classes. We provide assistance with technique, but most importantly, we are a safe place to make art with others. Anyone with physical, emotional, cognitive or behavioral needs, or a person just seeking a wellness-focused environment in which to be creative, is invited to learn and grow through our wide variety of class offerings.

 

Pioneering Art for Wellness

ATS has been providing art therapy services in the Cleveland community since 1967. Our founders, George Streeter, M.D., a psychiatrist/artist coping with tuberculosis, and Mickie McGraw, ATR-BC, an artist/therapist with polio, both recognized the therapeutic benefits of the artmaking process for the individuals they worked with as well as in their own lives.
They formed the Art Therapy Studio in collaboration with Highland View Rehabilitation Hospital (now MetroHealth Medical Center) as a hospital-based creative arts program to help patients and their families cope with the life-changing effects of trauma, chronic illness, medical treatment, and permanent disability.

 

A few years later, when the studio relocated out of the hospital, the staff noticed that members of the community facing various challenges, be it medical, physical, aging or other life changes, were seeking more accessible options for self-care. So, in 1977, ATS expanded its mission to include a community-focused program utilizing art for wellness, one of the first of its kind in the country.

 

“Our classes are designed to help adults and children grow, heal and develop their inner artists in a creative, safe and supportive environment.” says Executive Director Shannon Scott-Miller, MA, ATR-BC. “They stand out from similar offerings because of our amazing staff of credentialed art therapists who have sensitivities and experience working with individuals dealing with a wide spectrum of limitations or circumstances. People are drawn to the environment that our art therapists create through their knowledge and ability to assist individuals in overcoming challenges and building on personal strengths.”

 

Experience how art can open your life! Spring classes begin April 4th and are held at four locations throughout Cuyahoga County. Sign up through our website or contact the Art Therapy Studio at 216.791.9303 for more information.

 

 

Art Therapy Studio

12200 Fairhill Road

Cleveland, Ohio 44120

arttherapystudio.org

216.791.9303