Arts Learning

With any ceramics class we teach at the DAI, we have a goal of strengthening the creative thought process along with increasing art making skills. With any clay class, we have a goal of sharing our love of clay while teaching the techniques that go along with using this medium. For this particular class, we wish to provide a curriculum that addresses the physical and cognitive needs of persons in recovery from a TBI. We will structure each session with the recovery process in mind. We hope to provide an environment where each participant feels safe and encouraged and is able to take on and complete new skills in art making. We believe that art making in this setting can have a positive emotional and psychological impact on those who have suffered from TBI's and we hope to see evidence of this. Our evaluation of the project will be mostly through retrospective observation and open dialogue throughout the project. We will document (giving anonymity) struggles and successes of each class. At the end of each session, we will discuss upcoming sessions and make any needed adjustments to the curriculum as the project unfolds. Aside from wanting this project to be an enjoyable experience for our participants, we will also be speaking with each participant to discuss their recovery goals and how/if this project has helped to further these goals (and in what ways). We are very interested in the experience of each person making student input an important part of this project. For participants wishing to continue to use clay as an artform/therapy, we will help them work with the DAI to gain access to additional opportunities.