Abused Children Find a Therapeutic Outlet in Art

Artwork of the most personal and expressive sort is at the heart of “Art Heals,” an exhibition at the Artspace Gallery in Woodland Hills that focuses largely on paintings, sculpture and other art created by abused children.

The show is designed partly to showcase the continuing effect of the Free Arts for Abused Children program, established in 1977 to inspire interest and participation in the arts among abused children now living in residential care facilities. Through the years, the program has had volunteers with experience in painting, sculpting, drama, writing, dance and film visit these facilities weekly, offering a new way for the troubled youngsters to express themselves.

“Art is very therapeutic, and it brings out the creative expression in these children,” said Anne Nathan, a Free Arts volunteer for three years and a key organizer of the exhibition. “It gets them out of their shell and gives them self-confidence that they can do something worthwhile and also have some fun.”

The paintings, drawings and puppets made by the young artists, mostly 12 to 17 years old, are often outlets for their deepest emotions. Elements of fear, sadness and loneliness are sometimes revealed in the children’s work, opening an alternative avenue of communication that program organizers say is the central goal of Art Heals.

“We can all talk about our problems and speak intellectually,” Nathan said. “But the art speaks for itself.”

In addition to about 60 works by child artists, “Art Heals” includes art by 24 of the program’s volunteers. Three of Nathan’s abstract paintings are in the gallery, along with works by professional sports illustrator David Myers and photographer Nancy W. Stanford, who has collected about 30 color pictures of children in India, Japan, Mexico, Romania and elsewhere.

Drawings by actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Ali MacGraw and actor Max Gail, all supporters of the Free Arts program, are also included.

The idea for the show was firstsuggeSt ed by Nathan a year ago to municipal Satellite Galleries director Scott Canty, who was looking for a children-themed show for Artspace. Canty said he was impressed with the work being created through the program, finding what he called a surprising level of sophistication.

“It’s very intuitive, expressionistic,” Canty said of the art he chose for the exhibition. “To me, it looks like they had a lot of fun doing it. It’s very free and uninhibited.”

Still, Nathan said that often some of the older children are initially not interested in producing art and may have never held a paintbrush before. But she has often returned later in the program to find these macho boys, some of them former gang members, working delicately on lace doily valentines.

Usually, she added, the children wait hungrily for the volunteers to return. More than 1,000 abused children are reached through the program each week countywide.

“Creativity is a very important part of the human personality,” explained Nathan, who is interning as an art therapist. “We all have it, and what this does is draw that out.

“They’ve all been abused, and that is very restricting as far as someone’s creativity goes. What this does is open up a whole new outlet for them. And they do something that they’re proud of and put them up on their walls.”

Volunteers then encourage them to continue, Nathan said, to always find time for simply making a sketch, even if it’s just with a crayon. What is important, she added, is that they continue creating.

“This is an exciting exhibit to me,” Canty added. “I see a lot of color and shapes and movement. It’s about healing, but also about excitement.”

“Art Heals,” a group exhibition of art by children and adult artists, continues through June 1 at the Artspace Gallery, 21800 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills. For information, call (818) 716-2786.

Appleford is a regular contributor to Valley Calendar.