Healing Arts

The artists from Jump-Start Performance Co. have provided the abused and neglected children residing at St. PJ’s with incredible opportunities to discover hidden talents and learn more about themselves. The respectful and creative interactive process between the artists and the children has led to many healing experiences, as well as significant improvements in self-esteem.
- Susan Bomalaski, Executive Director, St. Peter’s/St. Joseph’s

The Healing Arts Project is a unique collaboration between fourteen community human service agencies and arts organizations that serve abused, neglected, or abandoned children. The program places trained artists and mentors in residential and community centers. The arts help traumatized children discover their creative talents and overcome expressive disorders resulting from abuse. The program began as a pilot project in 2000, with Jump-Start providing a multidisciplinary arts program through the Westside Boys and Girls Club. As a result of its initial success, the Healing Arts program received major funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Subsequently, Jump-Start has expanded services to the Eastside Boys and Girls Club and St. Peter’s/St. Joseph’s Residency Home. The Fusions component of Healing Arts provides cross-training between therapists and artist-educators and has allowed for the addition of an artist-educator in certain group therapy processes.

Healing Arts projects include On The Loose, a rap CD with songs written and performed by children ages 11 to 15, puppet books featuring felt puppets in watercolor environments, an ongoing photography club where children learn basic principles of photography, and a Girls Club with arts activities that build self-esteem and address issues of concern to pre-adolescent girls.

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