Catamount Arts

Saturday May 31,  10 am-12:00 pm

Catamount Arts Center, 115 Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury

FREE 

Using the power of aesthetic and sensory experience we can create opportunities for emotional regulation. This hands-on workshop will give participants the opportunity to experience a variety of arts materials, mindfulness activities and sensory experiences and plenty of time to reflect and discuss. What makes each material unique? How do we feel about it? How does it make us feel? What action is invited from each material? How can we intentionally leverage different materials for different regulation needs? Participants will come away with ideas for using the arts for regulation in their own classrooms, and in their own lives. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will explore a variety of arts materials and creative exercises designed to activate connection between mind and body, and reflect on how these experiences affect their emotions. 
• Participants will come away with an introductory knowledge about the ways in which the arts and creativity can be used as a tool for regulation in their own early childhood settings and beyond.

Alexandra Turner is a doctoral student and Project RESILIENCY Scholar in the Social Emotional Behavioral Health and Inclusive Education program at University of Vermont, and holds an M.Ed. in Arts in Education and a Bachelor’s in Studio Arts. She has been a teaching artist, PD trainer, and program director for Inclusive Arts Vermont (VSA) for ten years, and prior to that was an Early Childhood Educator for five years. She has studied, practiced, played with, created and sold art in the domains of glass, drawing, painting, digital photo, installation, ceramics, and cake. Alexandra has worked with hundreds of educators and hundreds of students in a variety of art forms and purposes of art, including arts for their own sake, arts for mindfulness, arts integration with core curriculum, art and social emotional learning and inclusive arts practices for people with disabilities. Most importantly, Alexandra is the mother of two amazing young artists, currently 5 and 11 years old.