It was an evening of art, song, and most of all, healing.
The Orion Art Center held an opening reception on June 9, for The Healing Power of the Arts exhibit, a collaboration between the OAC, The Art Experience, and Common Ground Sanctuary, in conjunction with the Indianwood Psychology Group, and Paint a Miracle.
The Healing Power of the Arts celebrates breast cancer survival, and the exhibit will be at the OAC through June 30.
The exhibit features approximately 85 pieces of art, including poetry, paintings, sculptures and more.
Local artists including Elaine Darbee, Dorothy Sedlock, Michele Hinz, Anne Donavon and Kathy Coe were featured. This is the second installment of the exhibit, which had its first showing at The Art Experience in Summit Place Mall in May.
Dr. Dessa Stone of the Indianwood Psychology Group spoke at the event, explaining how the idea for The Healing Power of the Arts first came about.
Stone said she was treating a patient who had an eating disorder, and was having trouble gaining weight. Stone learned that her patient was also an artist, and encouraged her to draw on her feelings in her art to help her heal.
‘Gradually, amazing things started to happen,? Stone said. ‘Emotions that were locked away found their way onto paper.?
Stone said she first started talking about holding such an art exhibit at the OAC’s Snowflake Ball.
‘I wanted to show the resiliency of the artists, to fight their illness and win,? she said. ‘And to show their commitment to finding their way back to celebrating life.?
Stone noted that art and psychology together help nourish the human spirit.
‘It’s clear in the work we see tonight that the artists? spirits have been challenged,? she said.
Stone pointed out that the artists had taken a ‘raw look into their innermost fears,? and been able to claim what they left behind when they first became ill, to become whole again.
‘Creativity and the human spirit are inseparable,? she said.
Guests at the event were also treated to the musical stylings of Judy Piazza of Ann Arbor, who has been involved with Upland Hills for 23 years.
The Art Experience offered a hands-on art activity of making a clay mask, while Carolyn Skalnek of Lake Orion, a Reiki master at Healing Connections Unlimited, offered free Reiki sessions along the banks of the Paint Creek.
The Orion Art Center is located at 115 S. Anderson. Call 693-4986 for more information.