Art Impacts... Art strengthens communication for kids who've experienced domestic violence.
Discover more about Paint Love's impact.
Paint Love utilizes the power of the arts to make an impact on youth who are facing some of life’s most difficult circumstances. It is our hope that every child, teen, and young adult that experiences a Paint Love program will discover inner strength, to help them face the adversity in their life.
One demographic we work with is children who have experienced domestic violence. Through our partnership with the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, we have been able to carefully curate programs that address the specific needs of this group.
Kids who have experienced violence at home often find it challenging or even physically impossible to talk about their experiences. Trauma such as domestic violence can directly interfere with the part of the brain that manages language capacity, impeding development and leaving children with limited capacity to communicate verbally. Artistic expression engages parts of the brain that don’t rely on verbalization, so art can help them to find their voice, and know that what they have to say matters.
Artist Nikita Raper led kids at Camp PEACE in creating these amazing clay platters. They designed the patterns, cut and glazed the pieces, and Nikita fired them in the kiln, bringing out these incredible colors. Research shows that allowing kids who’ve experienced trauma like those we serve with Camp PEACE, the chance to achieve a sense of mastery and participation in something they enjoy, helps them learn that their efforts matter, and they matter.
Camp PEACE is the summer program of the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence. WRCDV “strive[s] to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the diverse community of battered women and their children with programs that promote safety, compassion, connection, advocacy, and prevention.”