Art series helps community heal post-Helene
When Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina, it reshaped both the land and our collective psyche.
“I can’t imagine anything more terrifying than for the ground to move under my feet,” says artist and educator Kate Stockman. “We were all raised with the unspoken belief — no matter what language we speak, the color of our skin, or where we live — to trust that the Earth doesn’t move, that it is a firm foundation for all of us.”
Helene upended that belief, says Stockman, who, along with trauma recovery coach Amy Huggins, is co-leading Creating Calm After Chaos — a four-week community-based art and conversation series designed to help people process lingering trauma from the storm.
“… I’ve often encouraged clients to incorporate art and creative processes into their healing,” says Huggins. “It’s a fantastic way to go deep without having to talk it all out. Art allows us to connect with ourselves on a subconscious level before our thinking brain can subvert us.”
The workshop series consists of four, three-hour sessions. Each session begins with a conversation circle where participants are invited to explore their experiences, feelings, and the subtle ways trauma can live on in the body. In the second half, participants shift to hands-on collage work using a wide array of materials, from magazines to fabrics to photographs.
“We set them up with all the collage supplies and encourage them to pour out all that is ready to be expressed,” says Huggins. “Throughout each session, we share and model tools and resources that they can take with them.”
Thanks to funding from the Community Foundation of Henderson County, Creating Calm After Chaos is free to all participants. Sessions are offered at various times and locations throughout Henderson County.
“The program is open to anyone in Henderson County,” Stockman assures. “No art experience is necessary — just a desire to heal and release the storms still raging inside.”
To learn more and register for Creating Calm After Chaos, visit ascensionwellnesslife.com/creatingcalmafterchaos/.