Open Studio Process

In a few weeks I start my first group at BASIS OV for Relaxing With Art, an art making group aimed to provide stress relief to the anxious high school students of BASIS. This isn’t a real art therapy group (seeing that I am not an art therapist), but I spent this week researching group art therapy and different approaches to running groups. My favorite style of running an art therapy group that I discovered is called the Open Studio Process, made popular by the Open Studio Project located in Evanston, Illinois. This process is made up of four main parts. The first is Intention: before creating any art, the participants of the group write a short note to themselves of what they hope to accomplish in making their art. This can be anything such as how they want to feel by the end of the session or what they hope to learn, understand, or accept about themselves. The second part of this process is the actual art making, where participants are provided with simple materials and are able to create freely. Then comes the Witness Writing: participants write a short reflection on their work, observing what they experienced while making the art. The final part of this process is Reading, when participants have the opportunity to read their reflections aloud to the rest of the group.

I think the main reason why I like this process is because of how focused it is. Participants have a clear goal in mind and are encouraged to work towards that goal. I still don’t know how exactly I am going to run my group, but I may run at least a few groups in the style of the Open Studio Project to see if intentions and reflections can help the participants in my group feel more relaxed.