ART HEALS: A Look at Minnesota's Free Arts

By Benjamin Davis Brockman for The Fiddleback

One question that I frequently encounter as an artist, and indeed struggle to reconcile with is: “why is what artists do important?”  It is a troublesome issue for many people in the studio arts, which can often be a very solemn and narcissistic practice.  Artists very seldom think of themselves this way, and usually consider their role as crucial to society as what a scientist or lawyer does.  Why is it then that a doctor is never asked why what he does is important, but people in the arts and other creative fields are often plagued by the question?  As arts programs in high schools and colleges across the country are cut to accommodate the needs of training in “practical” fields, it is increasingly important that an artist be able talk about what he or she does.  I would be more than happy to hear from readers on the subject at brockman.ben@gmail.com, as I still haven’t found an articulate way to describe the feeling I have about the importance of Art.  However, every so often I see the power of art being used to do amazing things, in which the direct result of creative practice changes lives in a very real and tangible way.  This year I discovered an organization that is doing exactly that.

Esther Callahan is the Program Coordinator for Free Arts Minnesota, a non-profit organization which places volunteer Art Mentors in youth shelters, and treatment facilities in the greater Twin Cities.  I caught up with her to talk about the impact of Art and the remarkable influence a creative Mentor can play in the life of a child at-risk.  

BDB: Can you tell me a bit about how Free Arts came about?  

EC: Free Arts was formed in 1977, in California by Art Therapist Elda Unger and Carolyn Sargent, a woman who, as a child, used art to emerge from the sadness and isolation of hearing loss.  They wanted to provide positive outlets for children.  In 1997, the Junior League of Minneapolis came along and helped start Free Arts Minnesota in serving children in residential treatment centers, battered women’s shelters, and therapeutic preschools based on the theory that for abused children, art and positive adult relationships are not a luxury but a necessity

BDB: How did you come to be involved with Free Arts?

EC: I was first introduced to Free Arts Minnesota through a friend of mine who moved here from Utah.  She wanted to volunteer and found Free Arts.  I was moved by all the stories she told about her experiences being an art mentor and it encouraged me to check them out.  When I did, I fell in love.  With the organization, the weekly mentor program and the children we serve.  I have been a mentor for 6 years and only love it more and more each year.  I was lucky to have had an opportunity to turn my passion into a career starting as Volunteer Coordinator through Americorps VISTA and then hired on as permanent staff as Program Coordinator.

BDB: The slogan for Free Arts is ART HEALS.  Can you describe what this means?  What is it about art that helps people in duress?  In other words what do you hope the effect of the program will be on a child, in the long and short term?

EC: We all are healed by art on a daily basis, whether we know it or not.  It might be the scarf you are wearing that brings you comfort on a cold day - someone created that! It may be the design of the keyboard you are using that brings you healing from carpal tunnel – someone created that!  It may be the simple doodle that you drew during a meeting to release the pent up tension you have – YOU created that.  We know that the creative process is a way for children to renew and enhance their sense of self- confidence and through the healing powers of art, illuminate a reason to survive the adversities they face.

BDB: What do you see as the primary role of a Mentor?

EC: The role of a Free Arts mentor is to be a wise and trusted friend and guide; a caring, responsible adult and a positive role model for the children we serve. 

BDB: What is the reach of Free Arts MN, and how it has grown since inception?

EC: The communities from which the youth in our programs are drawn are some of the most diverse and economically challenged neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. Among them are the Powderhorn, Phillips, Seward, Central, Bancroft, Near North, Frogtown, Hopkins, Shoreview, East Side and University neighborhoods and St. Paul. The ethnic makeup of those served by Free Arts programs is 60% African American, 22% Caucasian, 10% Asian, 4% Hispanic, 3% multiple-race, and 1% American Indian. Adolescent participants now comprise over 25% of the youth we serve.

Since inception in 1997, we are still the only organization in Minnesota that specifically directs the healing effects of the arts to youth living in treatment centers, shelters and special circumstance educational environments on an ongoing basis. While our work began with partner agencies like Harriet Tubman Family Alliance and St. Joseph’s Home for Children, we went from 13 to 30 agency partners in 2011 and from 2,000 children served per year to serving over 4,000 children per year.

A study by the University of Minnesota and Wilder Research made the case for the value of mentoring programs like Free Arts.  This Minnesota study concluded that for every dollar spent on effective mentoring programs Minnesota taxpayers can expect a return of $2.72. These are dollars saved through improved school attendance and performance, reduced truancy, improved health outcomes, reduced juvenile and adult crime, and reduced need for social services.

BDB: Is Free Arts a national institution?  Which other states have such organizations that you are aware of?

EC: There are three other Free Arts Affiliates in Los Angeles, New York City, and Phoenix.

As far as Free Arts being a national institution, I don’t think we can go so far as to say that…yet! 

To learn more about the Free Arts program and see some of the mentor projects and Free Arts events, check out the following links, as well as this blog!

www.freeartsminnesota.org

http://www.facebook.com/freeartsminnesota

http://www.youtube.com/user/freeartsminnesota1?feature=mhee

https://twitter.com/#!/freeartsmn