NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services (CHS) today announced the publication of “Culture: We Are Interwoven,” with artists from Harlem to Hollis.
A multimedia presentation featuring the artistic narratives of participants in CHS’ Creative Arts Therapy program, the oldest and largest jail-based arts therapy program in the nation.
This year’s catalogue and soundtrack comprise more than 80 individual and collaborative pieces — including visual art, poetry, dramatic works, and music — created throughout the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 70 patients worked with CHS’ licensed art therapists to express their thoughts and feelings about culture and identity, using various artistic mediums.
More than 70 patients worked with CHS’ licensed art therapists to express their thoughts and feelings about culture and identity, using various artistic mediums.
The 2021 publication marks the seventh annual Creative Arts Therapy showing, which went virtual in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“It’s clear from the artistic pieces created— from the masks and baskets to the music and poetry—that the program served as an important therapeutic and creative outlet for patients over the course of a difficult year.”
“The Creative Arts Therapy program is a vital component of CHS’ mental health service, and I congratulate and thank the therapists and artists who made the 2021 Creative Arts Therapy show possible,” said Senior Vice President for NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services Patsy Yang, DrPH. “It’s clear from the artistic pieces created— from the masks and baskets to the music and poetry—that the program served as an important therapeutic and creative outlet for patients over the course of a difficult year.”
The licensed creative arts therapists who lead CHS’ Creative Arts Therapy program collaborate with other members of CHS’ mental health service to facilitate voluntary individual and group arts therapy sessions and to provide care and treatment planning for program participants.
“It is a privilege to work on this team, with these patients, and bear witness to their expressed freedom as they heal through the creative arts,” said CHS drama therapist Barbara B., LCAT. “Given the impact of COVID, the provision of creative arts therapy services is more essential than ever.”
Throughout the 2021 sessions, CHS therapists encouraged patients to explore their cultures and identities through mask-making, scene-writing, journaling, improvisation, poetry, music, and mixed media.
Most of the artists created individual pieces, but program participants also collaborated to make colorful collages, songs about relationships and loss, and a basket decorated with woven fabric.
The “Culture: We Are Interwoven” catalog and soundtrack are featured on the CHS website.
NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs.
A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals.
Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible.
Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible.
For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthandHospitals or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.
Correctional Health Services (CHS) became the direct provider of health care in the city’s jails as a new division of NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) in 2016.
Services include medical, nursing, mental health, substance-use treatment, social work, dental and vision care, discharge planning, and reentry support. In addition to providing direct patient care in the jails, CHS leverages the resources of the nation’s largest municipal health care system to help discharged patients successfully return to their communities. CHS is also a pivotal partner in New York City’s criminal justice reform efforts.
Photo credit: Source.
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