Debra Disman

Artist

self-compassion

Unfolding the Possibilities: Bookmaking with Self-Compassion 2

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I was honored to have led “Bookmaking with Self-Compassion” on
Saturday, May 15, 2021, a workshop which invited participants to:

“Make an artist book celebrating their own creative growth”.

This program was presented through 18th Street Art Center’s Arts Learning Lab, with support from the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health‘s campaign We Rise LA. WE RISE encourages wellbeing and healing through art, connection, community engagement and creative expression and takes/took place during May: Mental Health Awareness Month.  It is part of artist Sara Daleiden’s artist project  RECOVERY JUSTICE: BEING WELL. 

Participants discovered how to create the beautiful, fun and versatile Flower Fold book into which they could add wishes, hopes, prayers and dreams. This post celebrates our MATERIALS!

Participants received “art kits” containing origami papers, ribbon, railroad board, stickers, markers, and glue sticks.

The beautiful origami papers were folded into smaller shapes containing “hidden” folds…

then glued together to create a longer book that could be folded up into a square, unfolded into a sculptural shape,

or hung as a chain!

“Found” words and images were added to the “pages”, as well as stickers drawing, collage and more…

and a whole now expressive artwork was created!

Unfolding the Possibilities: Bookmaking with Self-Compassion 1

By

I was honored to have led “Bookmaking with Self-Compassion” on
Saturday, May 15, 2021, a workshop which invited participants to:

“Make an artist book celebrating their own creative growth”.

This program was presented through 18th Street Art Center’s Arts Learning Lab, with support from the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health‘s campaign We Rise LA. WE RISE encourages wellbeing and healing through art, connection, community engagement and creative expression and takes/took place during May: Mental Health Awareness Month.  It is part of artist Sara Daleiden’s artist project  RECOVERY JUSTICE: BEING WELL. 

Participants discovered how to create the beautiful, fun and versatile Flower Fold book into which they could add wishes, hopes, prayers and dreams.

These works could become a chain to hang in their homes,

give as a gift,

or remain  an individual document of self-expression

exploring what the pandemic has meant to  them,

while learning new skills and creating a unique expression of renewal and rebirth during the spring season.

Makers used origami Papers,  glue sticks, railroad board, cardstock, ribbon,  stickers and items
they found in their immediate environment to create their books.

The results were stunning…beautiful, expressive, evocative, and telling of the past year.

It is a joy to share these self-compassionate bookworks….

These works shall remain powerful and poignant

of a never to be forgotten experience, that lingers and informs our present moment.

Kudos to filmmaker and videographer Jeny Amaya for her stellar documentation.

Bookmaking with Self-Compassion

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Recovery Justice: Being Well

“Being Well” is what we seek together as neighbors, and recalls one of the central guiding principles of the City of Santa Monica, the notion of “wellbeing” as key to civic health. Recovery Justice: Being Well, aims to highlight the recent circumstances that have evolved during the pandemic (racial justice demonstrations and destruction, as well as social discontent and general disconnection) into a series of self-organized artist projects that merges the exterior and interior public spaces of City of Santa Monica property. 18th Street Airport Campus at Santa Monica Municipal Airport will be the site where artists reimagine the city and beyond in the midst of complex social unrest globally. Recovery Justice will recuperate through various means the digital and physical footprints left in a city that struggles to reclaim the seemingly peaceful environment it once had. Artists will develop a palette for making and sharing artworks responding to the street experience in safe, healing and expressive modes. This porous series is a point of departure to reconcile and redefine the concept of justice. 

WE RISE PROJECTS: THIS MAY

For the We Rise series of projects related to Recovery Justice: Being Well, 18th Street Arts Center will produce a series of artist-led workshops and civic engagement projects addressing mental health for youth and for families in Spanish and English.

ARTS LEARNING LAB @ HOME: CREATIVE SELF-COMPASSION

This May, we are thrilled to present three new Arts Learning Lab @ Home art-making workshops for families all around wellbeing and self-compassion. May is Mental Health Awareness month, and taking time for creativity together with loved ones is a key part of self-care in these uncertain times. We are partnering with WE RISE LA (https://werise.la/) to bring these moments for creative growth to you, centered around the theme of wellbeing as we navigate coming out of a pandemic and transitioning to new routines together.

We will be providing ALL@HOME Art Kits with materials for each workshop that will be available for pick up from 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, for those that live in the LA Metro area, but all materials will also be easily found at home or at a local supply store. More information on Art Kit pick-up will be provided once you register for a workshop. Supplies are limited and are first come, first serve. All of the virtual workshops will be presented on Zoom, and interpretation will be provided in both English and Spanish.

May 15, 2021 at 11 AM- 12:30 PM [Virtual: Zoom] Bookmaking with Self-Compassion | Debra Disman

Debra Disman, Narrow Bridge, (inside) 2016, 5.5 x 16 x 3.5 inches, Artists' Book/Mixed Media (board, paper, fabric, linen thread).
Debra Disman, Narrow Bridge, (inside) 2016, 5.5 x 16 x 3.5 inches, Artists’ Book/Mixed Media (board, paper, fabric, linen thread).

Make an artist book celebrating your own creative growth!!!

Join 18th Street Arts Center artist in residence, Debra Disman and discover how to create the beautiful, fun and versatile Flower Fold book into which you can write or paste wishes, hopes, prayers and dreams, make into a chain to hang in your home, or give as a gift. Explore what the pandemic has meant to you while learning new skills and creating a unique expression of renewal and rebirth during the spring season.