Art for the Heart

March 17, 2024

Brenton Wang

1. Executive Summary

The aim of the project “Art for the Heart” is to help the people in marginalized groups (teens, senior citizens, and new immigrants) who are struggling mentally after the COVID-19 pandemic. I resolved to reach at least 50 people and to have them each create a mosaic artwork to unwind, and to ultimately display these artworks in a public location. Although the public display is still pending, I am proud to say that the project reached more than 70 people. I successfully organized four workshops in a youth care center and a community center, with the third and fourth workshops boasting over 20 people.
 

2. Introduction

I founded Little Fish Art Studio in 2020 during the height of the pandemic to allow children to destress by making art. I held a total of 42 virtual lessons, telling my students to keep their art for posterity. After the pandemic, Little Fish published a student art collection titled “Colors of Quarantine”. Since then, Little Fish painted a mural titled “Astronaut and Rose” for a high school and organized a charity art auction for foreign-language books at Oakville Public Library, which raised over $1,600. After consulting some of my assistants on how we could help the community, I created this project to help heal people currently going through a lot of stress. 

 

With negative news developments everyday (in the post-pandemic era) and the normal daily wear-and-tear of life, it’s easy to get stuck in a negative headspace. It’s important to relax and practice self-care, such as by creating art. That’s why I initiated this project– I believe that making art can heal people going through a tough time mentally. Teens, senior citizens and new immigrants are especially stressed– both teens and senior citizens have their concerns minimized due to age discrimination, and new immigrants can’t express themselves due to language barriers. 

 

3. Activities and Initiatives

For “Art for the Heart”, I organized four workshops at two locations, including a training workshop on Art Healing for volunteers (I learned the course myself on Coursera beforehand). The remainder were for the youth, senior citizens, and new immigrants being served. We partnered with a youth home– Oasis Youth Care– who generously allowed us to use their premises and reach out to the youth who were residing at their location. We also partnered with Oakville Senior Club. 

 

During each session, I began by inquiring about everyone’s current mental state and whether they were feeling stressed. After collecting responses, I (along with volunteers) gently guided each participant through the process of making their mosaic, helping them cut the pieces or lay the grout if they were unable to. Near the end, I had everyone write an inspirational quote or phrase on the back of their artwork, and asked them again about their mental state. I always received better responses than initially. 
 

4. Impact and Outcomes

We reached over 70 people. Every single participant and volunteer we asked rated the project positively, expressing that the process of creating or helping to create a mosaic helped them mentally. Here are a few testimonies from the people who were interviewed:

92% of the respondents (60 out of 65 people who responded to our survey) stated that the survey was of “great” help, and the remaining 5% stated that it was of “some” help. The remaining 5 people out of our 70 participants did not hand in their survey form.

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through our website, YouTube, WeChat, LinkedIn, and Instagram, despite the non-official operation of accounts other than the website, "Art for the Heart" has achieved good results. Social media posts and art images have amassed over 4,000 views, significantly boosting the project and the studio's community presence and impact.

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5. Sustainability and Continuation

I have already been in touch with several other locations that are interested in hosting the event. These include a downtown art museum and a housing shelter. In the future, I plan on making this event regional, instead of just focusing on Oakville, and also expanding the kinds of people I target (including economically disadvantaged people, for example). Hopefully, the permanent display that is created from the mosaics will serve as a type of advertisement, generating interest in “Art for the Heart”. 

 

In the future, this project may be expanded beyond Ontario or Canada. Little Fish Art Studio can establish affiliates in major cities that each will host an art program with a focus on mental health for the local community. 

 

7. Conclusion

The project was a smashing success. With over 60 artworks created and talks to display the works permanently and publicly underway, all participants and volunteers can pat themselves on the back for a job well done. I would like to thank all volunteers for their patience and dedication in instructing the participants, and all the participants for their eagerness to learn from the volunteers. I could not be more proud of all of you. I would also like to thank my mother, who drove me to all the locations and helped me shop for materials. This undertaking would have been completely impossible without her.