ST. CHRISTOPHER ART STUDIO
“Artfully healing communities in need.”
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St. Christopher Art Studio, located in Classroom 5 of the Christian Education Wing, is dedicated to using the power of art in supporting healing and spiritual wellness. This outreach ministry produces periodic retreats, special events, and offers individual and small group spiritual self-discovery and wellness through therapeutic art practices. The Studio is founded upon the assurance that everyone, having been made in the image of the Creator, shares the divine capacity for creativity and imagination. Thus, all are created as art-ists.
The Studio teaches modalities of expressive art, empowering individuals and groups to mitigate situations of grief, loss, stress and distress management, and trauma. The Studio also has the capacity for mobile response or onsite events, including art and stress management events for local first responders in partnership with Galveston-Brazoria Counties’ Crisis Intervention Stress Management Team. To inquire about the St. Christopher Art Studio, upcoming events, or to request an event or mobile response, write: community@stchrischurch.org.
LEADERSHIP
The Rev. Viktoria Gotting, MDiv, CWP, CWA, is a multimedia artist who is trained as a healthcare chaplain and has engaged in extended education in critical stress management, behavioral health, and trauma and distress tolerance. She is certified as a community wellness advocate, therapeutic art practitioner, wellness practitioner, trauma-informed care practitioner, and in mental health first aid, both adults and youths.
SOME REFLECTIONS FROM ART EVENT PARTICIPANTS
“As a regular participant, I can attest to the healing power of expression through art as envisioned through the mission the Art Studio. I am fed and, in turn, feed others as I create.”
“At an Art Studio retreat, I learned how to express my emotions through art. I was able to express and release feelings of grief in one brief, guided exercise. It was a healing experience.”
“I was part of a class using three-dimensional art. The purpose was to create two artistic interpretations of the face we show the world, and the face we show God. I was able to spend hours thinking about and celebrating my various ‘faces,’ while also grieving identities and roles I have lost. It was an amazing experience.”
“Each retreat is themed in terms of what will be created and for what purpose. Creating in this way becomes an ongoing process, from planning the piece, to creating, to finishing, and then to sharing it with others. Art, in this way, becomes a dynamic spiritual and emotional connection to self and others, providing positive impact and restoration in ways unforeseen.”
“I have discovered that even I have a creative spirit! I participate in St. Christopher Art Studio events, not for the product, but for the process. I find that I can just lose myself in the doing; it is play; it is therapy of sorts. And occasionally I’m happily surprised with the creation!”
“Attending Art Studio events has stimulated and improved my creative spirit, a spirit I think we all possess. When we gather to learn new outlets of personal expression, we create an extraordinary vision of how community in love can be.”
“I was new to experiencing art as a way to experience my grief without words. I was surprised how much better I felt after releasing my story onto the paper. I had time to sit with it, decorate it and honor it. I left with meaningful pieces that mean so much to me. Knowing I can give my feelings shape and color makes me feel like I have some control over the pain.”
“I love it that everyone feels so encouraged. Who knew a doodle could be a masterpiece?! I was surprised to learn how my body responds to releasing stress in this way. They even give you the supplies you need to continue making art.”