As part of an ongoing collaboration with the Albertus Magnus College Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling (MAATC) Community Outreach Program, Weir Farm National Historic site has committed to an additional $2,500.00 in cost sharing to run community based art therapy groups in the 2017-2018 academic year. Located in Wilton, CT, Weir Farm is a 60-acre national park with a focus on the visual arts, offering visitors inspiration and education with free classes, tours and art-related events.
In 2013, Lisa Furman, Director of the MAATC Program and Community Outreach Coordinator, first approached Weir Farm, asking if they would be interested in assisting with an art therapy group for local cancer patients. Weir Farm responded enthusiastically by offering studio space, art supplies and staff to facilitate the art therapy group. The response to the event was so positive that Weir Farm pledged continued support for future MAATC community outreach groups.
True to their word, since 2014, Weir Farm has committed a total of $8,000 in materials so that MAATC staff and students can provide free short term art therapy in the community. Weir Farm’s generosity has also made it possible to continue to provide rich and rewarding opportunities for MAATC students to participate in service learning with cancer patients, adults in recovery, medically fragile children, and at risk youth. For students, this kind of unique learning experience outside of the classroom is invaluable. MAATC student volunteer Stephanie Fazekas helped facilitate an art therapy group at Weir Farm with cancer patients and wrote this about her experience: “This community outreach experience was an incredible way to witness the kind of warm, welcoming, and creative environment that art therapy can encourage. As a student, I really appreciated seeing art therapy used in a different way, while also learning more about a wonderful place to visit in my own community.”
Collaborative community partnerships such as those with Weir Farm have myriad benefits. “When I first conceived of the Community Outreach Program in 2011, my hope was three-fold: bring art therapy to those in need, educate the community about art therapy, and forge strong local program partnerships. I never imagined we would find such good spirit in Weir Farm,” Furman says. To date, this support has allowed MAATC Program Community Outreach to run art therapy groups with the following schools, hospitals and support programs: East Rock Magnet School, Ann’s Place Community-Based Cancer Support, Green Chimneys Residential Treatment Center, Griffin Hospital, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, and Jonathan Law High School.
The MAATC Program is grateful to Weir Farm for sharing in their mission.
Link to Weir Farm website – https://www.nps.gov/wefa/index.htm