Sankalpa: Art Journeys

September 2011 - present: With Auroville in south India as the base for Sankalpa, your support is needed to build a healing arts center, a safe space stocked with art supplies for ongoing sessions and workshops.

November 2010 - May 2011: In six months, art therapy was offered with several groups in and around Auroville, an international township dedicated to the realization of human unity, near Pondicherry in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Bi-weekly groups were held with village children in an after-school program at Thamarai community center in Edyanachavadi village, focusing on color exploration and creative literacy. Weekend sessions were also offered with village adolescents visiting the Edyanchavadi Healing Center, focusing on body awareness and identity. Groups were held at the Life Education Center in Kottakarai, with young village women and focusing on self-esteem and mastery. And ongoing support and involvement was provided to a new effort of Child Protection Services of Auroville, including individual art therapy sessions in abuse cases.

March 2009 - September 2009: As a foundation of research for this vision, for seven months in 2009, 80+ locations in India and Nepal were independently surveyed for potential applications of art therapy in schools, orphanages, NGOs, cities, communities, and villages.