JEFFERSONVILLE — Children that participated in the Hispanic Connection of Southern Indiana art therapy program got the opportunity to show their family members the work they had accumulated.
This meeting Thursday was the penultimate one for the eight-week program taught by teacher and life transformation coach Quita Rose-Corrao. Her mother, Lillian Rose, is CEO/President of Hispanic Connection, a non-profit that works with people in the community with family- based immigration.
Rose-Corrao said this class began during the COVID-19 pandemic considering area Hispanic children were struggling with anxiety along with their parents.
“I decided to write a program for them where they could express themselves through art,” she said.
This program first began in 2021 and lasted for about 10 weeks, although Rose-Corrao said that 10 weeks felt too long.
The program this year had around 16 consistent children who attended it where they produced 12 different pieces of art, coming twice a week, with two different groups of students, one containing children between the ages of 11 and 13, and another that was between the ages of 14 and 17.
“A lot of them had limited Englishspeaking ability ... art is universal,” she said.
This class was made possible through a grant from the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
Work in the class included a painting of “emotional landscapes,” which is the students trying to paint an image of a certain emotion. They also did work in sketchbooks, collages and did their own recreation of “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh. Students also made paintings of animal guides of animals that they randomly selected.
Rose-Corrao said her students were surprised with the amount of work they had finished when they were looking through it to prepare for the exhibition.
“The whole thing is about building emotional resiliency. It’s about building confidence, learning skills, not only for the artwork that they’re doing, but also just how to communicate,” she said.
She said the art classes are not about making art that is right or wrong, but that they consistently try their best, and realize things about themselves.
“It’ll be a catalyst for having them feel like they can try other things that are different, because they’ve never experienced anything like this before,” she said.
She said that many of the students were resentful at the start of the classes since they were essentially being told by their parents to do it. She recounted one boy who said early on that he hated the class. By the end, he said he told her that he really liked it.
Rose-Corrao kept records of who attended the classes and what the extent of their participations was. Rose-Corrao also conducted surveys before and after attending the program. Parent comments from the post survey note changes in their children including being more communicative, confident and responsive.
“My child is a totally different kid since the beginning of this class. He has come out of his bedroom and the depression and is talking with everyone. He is much happier now,” one comment states.
A grant for the program might be possible next fall, however, but Rose-Corrao said she instead wants the class to focus on adult women, especially mothers.
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