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Family Service’s Client-Made Art Calendar Raises Funds for Program Clients of Transitional Learning Center Turn Therapy into Art—for Every Day of the Year January is represented by a collage of swirling color, sea shells, and beads. April’s selection depicts a red umbrella fending off fat raindrops while a smiling sun looks on. July’s picture is of a row of multicolored palm trees, their purple and red leaves overlapping. These vivid pieces of art were originally created by clients of the Transitional Learning Center, Family Service’s psychosocial rehabilitation program, as a way to express and better understand their emotions. Now these colorful pictures illustrate a limited-edition 2005 TLC calendar. The calendar recently sold out, raising $300 for the program. Where did the idea to use client art as a fundraiser come from? “I wanted to organize a group project that had a concrete, tangible result,” says Angie Potaczek, MA, ATR, LCPC, Family Service Art Therapist. Creating art, she explains, is a way for individuals with mental illness to express themselves in a healthy way, providing a creative outlet as well as a way of coping. “Art therapy is about self-expression,” says Ms. Potaczek. “The clients get absorbed in the process, and become emotionally involved. Creating a picture can help them to better express or understand their emotions.” Art therapy also allows clients to discover talents and interests they may have never explored due to mental illness. “One gentleman didn’t know that he was creative before he joined TLC. His expressive artwork is allowing him to realize that he has a very colorful imagination. Now he feels good about his art, and, as a result, he feels good about himself. He’s building self-confidence,” says Ms. Potaczek. And he is not the only one—the entire group has benefited from the project. “They are all proud of what they have created together,” says Ms. Potaczek. “Creating this calendar has taught the clients cooperative skills and raised their self-esteem,” she says, adding, “They have made something that is valuable to others, and that’s empowering.” By using art to express things that they might not have been able to verbalize, many clients have made another empowering discovery: they are all dynamic individuals. “They see themselves as people who are more than their mental illness, more than their label of schizophrenic or bipolar,” says Ms. Potaczek. “They see mental illness as an aspect of their lives, and not the definition of who they are.” So what will TLC do with the money that their calendar raised? “We’ll take a field trip in the spring,” says Ms. Potaczek. “The clients are thinking either Navy Pier or a museum,” says Potaczek. “But we could do both—they’ve raised enough money,” she adds
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