The Wise & Well Center for Healthy Living presents – Art as an Act of Healing, a Symposium, and an Exhibition that will examine the ways art can serve an essential function in the process of healing and wellness. Keswick believes that art plays a pivotal role in a person’s wellness journey. We see art and artmaking as a means for people to enrich, enliven and examine their lives at every stage.

The event will be hosted virtually on Keswick's Art Program Zoom. We will also offer a hybrid onsite viewing option for those attendees that have limited internet service or who would like to watch speakers in a socially distanced manner in our auditorium space. Speakers, presenters, and performances will take place on Zoom.

This option for live viewing of our Virtual Symposia is only available for our afternoon events.

10:30 am – 10:40 am Introductions – Welcome and Keynote

Introduction to be delivered by Sara Kaltwasser, welcoming people to the session and the day.

10:40 am – 11:00 am Micro Performance – Harp Performance with Maraji Gwynallen

Maraji Gwynallen, CMP, MA, a Certified Music Practitioner, and Therapeutic Harpist, is a harper, singer, composer, and lifetime, the music maker. Maraji conducts Therapeutic Music sessions with her harp at the bedside of ill patients. She also enjoys working with animals and bringing the harp’s soothing vibrations to the quadrupedal population.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm Art & Healing – Examining Approaches – From Community Spaces to Therapeutic Spaces

Guest Panelists Include - Ken Krafchek, Cinder Hypki, Cathy Goucher, Maria Darby. This panel discussion will explore the various ways that individuals can use art to support healing experiences. Leaders in the field of art will share their connections and insights, identifying the role that art can play in the healing process and wellness journey. We will discuss why this is important, and how it can benefit individuals, socially-engaged spaces, and therapeutic environments.

12:00 pm – 12:20 pm Micro Performance – Spoken Word with Ephraim Nehemiah.

Ephraim Nehemiah’s poetry uses rhythmic call and response, evocative narratives, and accessible subject matter to create a transformative experience for listeners across the nation. The work embraces vulnerability to share personal experiences that create necessary dialogue around race, class, and gender. Ephraim is currently a program director and teaching artist at Twelve Literary Arts in Cleveland, Ohio as well as the coach of the top 10 nationally ranked teams that competed at Brave New Voices and the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.

12:20 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch Break

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm How We Are Healing - Pecha Kucha Artist Talks – Facilitated by Sarah McCann

Pecha Kucha is a presentation form that uses a limited number of slides for a limited, specific amount of time. Pecha Kucha translates as “the sound of conversation” or “chit-chat” in Japanese. In a similar way to a Haiku poem, a Pecha Kucha encourages speakers to creatively arrange their message. This creativity often produces amazing results.

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm Art Activity (Special Details to be Announced)

2:35 pm - 3:35 pm Art & Healing – In Action, In Life - Guest Panelists Include – Cheryl Curtis, Sanahara Ama Chandra, Jordan Faye Block & Zoe Lintzeris

This panel/conversation will explore the way art and artmaking may have served as a source of healing for our various panelists. For some members of our panel, art may be an uplifting act, a method to de-stress or reflect. For others, art is a tool to connect, speak out, or speak up. Still further, for some art may be a source of healing, as an individual or a broader collective.

3:40 pm – 4:00 pm Closing Performance – Sanahara Ama Chandra – A Collective Sound Journey

During this session, the audience will co-create a heart medicine song. Sanahara Ama will guide the group through a process of sharing a collective vision then invite the audience to relax into a reflective, meditative space as she weaves the story into a song utilizing crystal singing bowls, improvisation, and love.