Inspiring Hope and Healing Through the Arts

Creative expression can help inspire a hopeful attitude, important for any kind of healing.

Chaddock school in Quincy specializes in teaching and treating children who have histories that include extreme trauma and/or attachment-related difficulties. The school integrates art, music and literacy elements into their curriculum as part of their therapy.

Recently, some of the students were able to participate in a three-day course led by Chaddock Choir Director Koretta Mayfield Sykes and local artist Stephanie Koscielski. The program combined music and visual art to help students express their emotions. The students were supplied paint brushes, pallets and canvases, and as different types of music played, they painted original pieces of art!

“We listened to upbeat jazz during the class. If we wanted a different outcome in the paintings we would set the mood by playing specific music genres and creativity would flow based on what we listened to,” explained Mayfiel- Sykes. The final step of their painting was to put a musical notation on their artwork.

The project was a natural extension of the students’ creativity. “I believe that art, dance, singing, and music are great ways to express yourself. I believe they are all very personal ways to share how you feel or view a matter,” Sykes shared. “The students could have told any story they wanted to through their paintings. Knowing these children’s struggles, stories and pasts, it is uplifting to see many positive pictures. There is even one featuring the word “Hope,” which warms your heart to see." says Sykes.

At Chaddock, healing happens in a variety ways every day through programs designed to give kids the voice they need to heal and grow. Mercantile Bank was instrumental in funding the recent art program and some of the artwork will be displayed at the bank office at 33rd and Maine in Quincy.