On a beautiful October day, a group gathers in Hampton for an artistic experience at the Arc of the Virginia Peninsula, an organization serving adults with developmental delays. Angela Stroup, an expressive, encouraging artist, offers a buffet of tools: paint brushes, tubes of acrylic paints, Styrofoam trays for palettes, paper, and a quartet of musical selections from different cultures.

This program is sponsored by another regional non-profit, Tidewater Arts Outreach (TAO), which pairs artists and musicians with groups in need of enlightenment and entertainment.

The adults spend the next hour playing with color and form, accessing their innate creativity. They appear tentative and, at the same time, curious.

“Who’s an artist here?” Angela asks, her bright eyes alert.

She surveys the group, waiting for a smile, hoping for a raised hand. After a pause, she says, “You’re all artists!”

Angela Stroup, registered nurse and professional artist, selects a piece of music with a slow tempo and soothing melody, inviting her new friends to let their brushes dance with colors, smears, dabs, lines on their paper. Recreation therapy assistants support the adults with materials and guidance while Angela moves gracefully around the room, dancing. When African music fills the room, the residents call out: “I hear monkeys! I hear elephants!”

Brushes swirl, and participants sway, move, and smile. One by one, canvases fill with color. Soon Angela asks, “Where in your body do you feel the music?”

One man, expressionless, unable to speak, pats his own chest gently, near his heart. This inspiring moment fills Angela’s own heart with joy.

TALENT & DISCIPLINE

Art therapy is a professional therapeutic practice which helps many kinds of people: children who have suffered trauma, loss, or illness; people recovering from cancer, alcohol, drug, or sexual abuse; as well as anyone who is grieving or has chronic mental illness. Though many of us unconsciously use artistic practices to soothe our own souls, art therapists are trained to guide their clients through an arts experience they might otherwise not be able to enjoy.

A handful of graduate students at Eastern Virginia Medical School—only twenty per year—work full time in the classroom and in community internships, learning the skills of art therapy. They must earn 25 extra credit hours to be eligible for certification as licensed professional counselors and registered art therapists. Dr. Abby Calisch, a sculptor and psychologist, is the director of the graduate art therapy and counseling program. She’s encouraged by a swell of enthusiasm in the profession.

“Nationally, interest in the field has increased, after Careerbuilder.com called art therapy one of the ‘Hot Top 10 Jobs,’” she said. Dr. Calisch believes creativity is a central part of being a well-rounded human being.

Facilitating wellness through art therapy takes a potent blend of talent and academic discipline, as well as a desire to care for people. Most students who apply to the program have a bachelor’s degree in art or psychology and a minor in either of those disciplines.

First-year student Evans Baker, 36, came to EVMS with a master’s degree in consumer psychology and art. She worked in the field of commercial art and graphic design for a few years but became burned out by the lack of meaning in her work. She felt like “a walking, warm blooded computer.” Evans’ true passion is working with people, so EVMS’s program suited her beautifully, even though it meant spending two years living in Virginia, away from her husband in North Carolina.

As an immigrant to the U.S. from China who moved to this country when she was 17, Evans brings a unique perspective. She recalls her own family’s emotional and mental health issues and always wondered what could be done for them besides doctors and drugs. Evans was recently nominated by the dean of students to serve on the school’s diversity community. Since the majority of art therapy students are women of European American descent, Evans is happy to share her insights as an Asian-born woman. She already knows that her thesis will involve the role of culture and heritage in art therapy.

“A lot of my friends don’t know where they come from, and it can be very exciting to find out your heritage. It can help your self image, knowing how special you are, and it can be very emotional,” she explained. “And for people like me, with an American husband, defining my own self image is very important.”

Part of the training at EVMS involves keeping a daily art journal. Each student is encouraged to revisit the events that happen every day in an artistic way, not as a typewritten report.

“We really have a therapeutic relationship with those journals!” Evans said.

She believes there are a number of important traits a person needs to become an art therapist.

“You have to be excited about art, be passionate about people, willing to explore your own experiences, and be aware of self-care, exercise, diet, social time, everything,” she said.

Evans is embracing her graduate program with a future vision; she wants to earn a doctorate in psychology as well.

CREATIVITY & WELLNESS

Virginia Beach resident Meghan Bernier, 40, a graduate of EVMS’ art therapy and counseling program, works primarily with chalk pastels, creating bright, glorious flowers and tropical fish. Meghan uses art to push past challenges in her life and empower others. She grew up in Alaska, in a family with strict religious codes and a parent with mental health issues. Her constant friend was a collection of crayons, which she used to cope with her young emotions. She married very young, had four children, each a year apart—one of whom had learning challenges—and then divorced while her children were very young. Strong, intelligent, and focused, Meghan worked a number of jobs. Throughout this challenging time, she kept a sketchpad and black micron pens handy and relied on art as a way to cope.

When Megan remarried ten years ago, her husband supported her desire to go to school, beginning with interior design at TCC. She wanted more. Meghan turned to psychology, hoping to understand herself, her son, and her family background better. She said she “absorbed everything intensely and didn’t like the person I became, examining so much.” She returned to art. While completing her bachelor of science degree at ODU, she chose art as her minor and embraced the balance of the two disciplines: the world of creativity and the work of wellness.

The EVMS program nearly fell into her lap, and for the next two years, Meghan’s art work blossomed. The nurturing she knew as a parent stretched beyond her home life; she served internships at Renaissance Academy and CHKD, where she said she was perfectly at ease with all the kids. Then, Dr. Calisch told Meghan she’d be working at the VA Hospital in Hampton. It was not her preference; however, Meghan admitted, “What I resist is often the best thing for me.” This group of patients filled her heart.

“I never minded the drive to Hampton,” she said. “I worked 8 to 4:30 three days a week with men and women of all ages, from their young 20s to early 80s. I created groups with these amazing people who had served our country, most with substance abuse issues. I just loved it.”

Currently, Meghan is working on her art and embracing a new project at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center. She’s still earning hours towards certification under Dr. Abby Calisch’s supervision. The extra hours are required for licensure. She credits the program for her centered attitude and strength.

“What we learned about ourselves during our time at EVMS will be with us the rest of our lives,” she said.

A BETTER LIFE

While many art therapists have degrees and professional credentials, some women find instinctive paths to art and wellness. Debi Maloney, director of the Lighthouse Center, which has been providing daytime support for the homeless in Virginia Beach for more than two decades, had a strong feeling that the women in her program would benefit from exploring art.

Debi is not a professional artist, but she embraces art in her life and wanted to share it. Three years ago, she attended a workshop by mixed media artist, Beth Bender. Debi and Beth developed a project in which women create journals which included collage, painting, and drawing. Their second art exploration, called the “HeArt Project,” encouraged women to share the story of their hearts: the longings they had for love, the hurts, the mending, losses, and memories of those they were loved by and those they loved. The finished hearts were exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach last winter, inspiring many in the outer community and earning kudos for the women of the Lighthouse.

“Many women had never worked with any other art form and wondered ‘Can I really do this?’ They cheered each other on and supported each other through the process,” Debi explained. “Our formerly drab conference room became a safe place with a closed door, where women could build community and create art.”

“I realized that art can heal the soul and inspire people to creatively tell their stories, even when there was pain or grief. Beth and I realized that the more they told their stories, the stronger they became,” Debi added.

This winter, the shelter is beginning a journal project that will explore each woman’s spiritual identity and journeys, using multiple media. As the women work together, they build trust, something Debi says is hard for women who have had to live precarious lives.

“It’s especially rewarding when some of the graduates—women who have gone on to productive lives with work and homes—come back and work with us again,” said Debi. Art often gives these women the hope and the vision for something more, a better life.