Street Art Workshop at The Victorian, Eating Disorder Treatment and Sober Living by the Sea

A few Saturday’s ago Rewrite Beautiful had the opportunity to go work with The Victorian – Eating Disorder Treatment and Sober Living by the Sea and work with the clients there. We brought a unique Street Art Project that the women would find relevant to their own lives and recovery. The ages of the women ranged from 18 to 40 so we took this opportunity to bust out some spray paint!

Lots of supplies!

We were joined by the lovely Janna Price, who shared her journey to eating disorder recovery earlier this year with the Orange County Register. In the workshop Janna shared her experience with an eating disorder and what the process of using art to ‘rewrite’ beautiful for herself means to her.

Workshop participant on floor and Janna Price on the right participating in our workshop

 We then transitioned into the workshop led by our Street Art Workshop Leader, Sunny Siu. (We love men who love to Rewrite Beautiful! Yeah!)

Sunny Siu, Street Art Workshop Leader

Sunny led the women in a creative exploration called, ‘Mind Mapping’. In the process the women had the opportunity to see how one thought can stem into another very quickly.  

Afterward we moved into the Street Art. The Street Art was an extension of the mind mapping the women started with, but shaped around this symbol:

These heart-feet icon symbolizes the journey to recovery or rewriting of beauty – it is a partnership that will be shared among trusted friends/family members and loved ones. Together, steps will be made, fear will be conquered, heart will be mended and love will amplify.

We provided 3, 6 foot by 3 foot wood panels for the women to explore their beliefs around BEAUTY, RECOVERY and VICTORY.

BEAUTY

RECOVERY

VICTORY

All of the women in the workshop suffered from some kind of addiction. Whether it was alcoholism, drugs or an eating disorder, but not everyone suffered from all of them. Being able to watch the women read each others writings and gain insight into another persons struggle was moving.

Workshop participant

Later we transitioned outside to allow the women to creatively express themselves with paint on the back of the panels.

Rewriting Beautiful on the back of the panels

To see the entire workshop please view the slideshow below:

[slideshow]

This workshop was a huge success. We were able to Rewrite Beautiful with some very brave and courageous women in recovery. We thank them for letting us be apart of their journey. I would  like to give a very special thanks to our beautiful volunteers:

*April Burkhart * Janna Price * Robyn Baker * Sunny Siu *

BEAUTIFUL Volunteers: Robyn Baker, Janna Price, April Burkhart and Sunny Siu

We couldn’t have pulled off this workshop without you! Thank you for donating your BEAUTIFUL selves to this cause and helping to prevent and stop eating disorders!

Keepin’ it Beautiful,

Irvina