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Boosting mental health

The Daily Record - 7/24/2020

For the last few months the Yoak family room has been transformed into an art studio.

The table large enough to accommodate the family of six is covered with a paint-splattered tablecloth. Brushes and paper are always on hand.

After remote learning began, it started out as a way to split up the school day for Kristie Yoak’s children. At noon, the family would break to follow along with Denyse Carbonell’s latest YouTube video on her channel, “Artist at Heart Paint Party.”

Yoak, a special education teacher at Reagan Elementary School in Ashland, thought painting would be a way for each of her children — who range from ages 7 to 20 — to take a break from the computer screen and be creative.

As the pandemic continued, it was a way for her family to focus on something other than the coronavirus.

“My kids have really gotten into it,” the Ontario resident said. “It was an activity that brought everyone together. It’s a great way to express your feelings.”

Many local art agencies and professionals agree art can improve mental health and help relieve stress and anxiety. Artists and agencies such as the Wayne and Holmes centers for the arts offer online classes and take-home kits to help community members be creative even if they don’t feel comfortable attending in-person sessions.

In the zone

Summer Myers, an art therapist located in Ashland, said art can take many forms. There’s art in the traditional sense, including painting, dancing and ceramics, or in other creative outlets such as gardening or baking.

Art can have a positive impact on mental health because of the “concept of flow,” Myers said. A flow state — also referred to as “being in the zone” — is the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a project. Studies show people who never experience flow tend to feel more stressed and anxious, she added.

Myers compared the benefit an hour in flow state has on mental health to what an hour of aerobic exercise can do for cardiovascular health.

“It really transmutes stress into purposefulness,” she said. “People often report a sense of calm, a loss of anxiety when they’re in the zone.”

Myers, who is licensed to practice in California, has been hosting online sessions with her patients. She is also working to obtain her license to practice in her new home in Ohio.

For those who are looking for a way to be creative, Myers suggested doodling and using watercolors.

Everyone is born with the ability to create and find joy in it, Myers said, referring to childhood days of scribbling with crayons or sidewalk chalk. It’s a way to communicate and process emotions, she said. A person does not need to be an artist to reap the benefits of creativity, she added. Some of her patients only participate by drawing scribbles or stick figures.

“The value is still there,” she said. “It’s not about creating a masterpiece or having artistic skill. It’s about using that natural language of art making that we’re all born with.”

Cynthia Petry, a professional instructor of art and director of the Coburn Gallery at Ashland University, said a third of her lecture course focuses on art therapy and the benefits art can have on mental health.

There is a lot of uncertainty with COVID-19, Petry said, and it’s unclear when daily life will return to normal. Art can be a way for people to take control of their situation and have a clear end, she explained. It is a way to concentrate your attention, see progress and have a final product.

“It’s not abstract,” Petry said. “... While you’re gardening or while you’re painting — whatever you’re doing — that’s your main focus. You’re not worrying about anything else. It allows you to release some of that stress as you’re working.”

Online classes

Holmes Center for the Arts Executive Director Holley Johnson said the center reopened with limited classes June 15.

As someone who’s been involved in the dance world for 37 years, Johnson missed being in the studio. When classes resumed, she said, students could feel the energy and excitement at being back together.

“It’s home to me,” she said. “The studio is another home, so to be away from it is strange.”

Whenever possible, some classes such as filmmaking and photography are held outside. Vocal-related classes likely won’t restart until next year, Johnson said. The center doesn’t have enough space to accommodate the social distancing guidelines, she explained. More than 6 feet need to be between participants when singing.

Those who paid for classes were given a credit to take the session another time, she said. The online classes were offered as free, optional courses.

During the center’s closure, instructors and staff worked to ensure students had information about where to find virtual courses to keep their skills sharp and find inspiration. Some famous dancers from the American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet have recorded and filmed at-home classes, Johnson said.

Johnson herself found inspiration from the videos, she said, adding she utilized some of the techniques she’s learned into her own teaching styles.

“It was almost like they had new mentors — people they would never get to take a class from or advice from,” she said. “I think they were inspired.”

James Fox, executive director of the Wayne Center for the Arts, said the staff at the center felt the community isn’t ready to return to in-person sessions. A few were held with low participation.

Though online courses aren’t ideal, Fox said, the center is working to meet the needs of all its students. Everyone has different levels of what they are comfortable doing during the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

Virtual classes, however, don’t offer the social interaction that in-person courses do, Fox said. It’s being part of a community, he said.

“I really do think that connection and community is huge. It’s easy to feel isolated right now. Even though you’ve got your project or your art endeavor. The arts community is such a critically important system. We look forward to getting back to that.”

Despite the limited number of classes, Wayne Center for the Arts continues to emphasize the importance of art by offering virtual classes and take-home kits. The take-home kits have been extremely popular and supply families with all the materials needed to complete the project. Many have corresponding videos.

Some courses, such as dance classes, are offered with a hybrid model, Fox said. Students can participate in-person or online. Other courses will be offered using the hybrid model in the future, he said.

A few classes continue and are being held outside of the center, including outdoor painting.

Classes will resume in the fall, Fox said, though it will not be the full catalog.

“We’re just trying to do whatever we can to reach people and keep people connected,” he said. “There’s no doubt that it is a great escape, release and opportunity for people to express. Because there are so many different mediums and opportunities, it looks different for everyone.”

Reach Samantha at 330-287-1626 or Samantha.Ickes@the-daily-record.com. On Twitter: @SamanthaKIckes.

CREDIT: SAMANTHA ICKES