The last couple of weeks have been busy for WP Puppet Theatre!
Barb and Annie facilitated drop by puppet making – Diverse Fork Puppets – at the CMHA Youth Smart Summit. YouthSMART (Youth Supporting Mental Health and Resiliency Together) is a year-long initiative designed to generate an awareness of mental health topics, which allows for student leaders and their designated teachers to work collaboratively to execute ongoing mental health awareness activities in their schools. This catalyst event brought together 200+ “SMART Leader” students and their teachers. The accompanying photo exhibit of VIEW from the Inside masks also generated lots of great conversations.
Allan, Suzanne and Annie presented VIEW from the Inside at the 40th annual Canadian Art Therapy Association Conference: Weaving Community through Creative Expression. We are working on creating Train the Trainer curriculum, materials and resources for more of these type of events.
Wendy presented at Creative Convergence in Winnipeg with the Canadian Network for Arts and Learning. The weekend demonstrated and celebrated the power of the arts to heal, to connect, to construct knowledge, to build bridges across borders, to foster inclusion and to nurture reconciliation. Notable national and international speakers and performers attended, including Judith Marcuse of the International Centre of Art for Social Change who received a Lifetime Achievement award. Congratulations!
Finally, Barb and Wendy facilitated our first Courage Journey workshop for the Big Brothers Big Sisters. Twenty 20 participants made and ‘played’ some wonderful dragon shadow puppets that we linked to emotion regulation strategies.
