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\u201cThere are no mistakes in art, only surprises,\u201d says Cari Randa, Three Links\u2019 newly-minted art therapist. She\u2019s noticed that many seniors initially hesitate to experiment with art materials, doubting their own ability to create something worthwhile. \u201cI often hear stories from seniors about how they were discouraged from making art as children and told they were no good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cari herself is not a trained artist, so she can say with conviction that being good at art is not a prerequisite for getting something positive out of it. \u201cWhen I was in art therapy school, I saw one of my classmates create a life-sized portrait of Beyonc\u00e9 in 45 minutes. I\u2019ll never be able to do that, but I\u2019ve always loved using art as a way to process my thoughts and enjoy time by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Cari\u2019s support, seniors are able to let go of their initial reservations and embrace art as a way to reminisce, connect with others, and enjoy their own imaginations. For residents who live on the Kinney and Rebekah Units, Cari sits with them one-on-one to choose colours, chat, and make a piece of art together. On the Whiting Unit, her programs bring groups of residents together to socialize with each other as they create their art. Cari is quick to emphasize that even though it\u2019s a group setting, it\u2019s not a class. \u201cWe\u2019re there to build a community and reduce the feelings of isolation that some seniors experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
What she loves about art therapy is that it\u2019s more playful than other types of therapy. She invites residents to \u201ccolour outside the lines\u201d both literally and figuratively. \u201cThe final product doesn\u2019t have to mean anything,\u201d says Cari, \u201cyou can draw a blue circle just because the colour and the shape make you feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThere are no mistakes in art, only surprises,\u201d says Cari Randa, Three Links\u2019 newly-minted art therapist. She\u2019s noticed that many seniors initially hesitate to experiment with art materials, doubting their own ability to create something worthwhile. \u201cI often hear stories from seniors about how they were discouraged from making art as children and told they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threelinks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}