LOCAL ARTS

 LOCAL ARTS ORGANIZATION PROFILE
Creative Heartwork

New Jersey’s first healing arts center dedicated to children who have experienced trauma, loss, illness or disabilities, Creative Heartwork was founded by Karen Carbonello, a tireless advocate for utilizing the power of the arts to heal children. Drawing upon her background as a sociologist and former director of a child advocacy center in Morristown, Carbonello embraced an extremely sensitive population, and, with great care and sincere compassion has created a safe and nurturing environment in which to heal. Through her guidance and her vision, she has managed not only to make a difference in the lives of the children she serves but also to inspire and encourage their life-long relationship with the arts.

In June of 2001, Carbonello founded Creative Heartwork as a non-profit organization whose mission is not only "to improve the lives of children experiencing painful challenges by providing healing programs utilizing the arts but also to foster and promote greater awareness of the healing benefits of the arts and their ability to mitigate the risk factors facing many children and adolescents." For the next four years, the organization rented space for its programs in churches and public buildings throughout Morris County. The hope to someday have a permanent home became a reality in the Spring of 2005 when Carbonello, her staff and board celebrated the grand opening of a wonderful new facility in Morris Plains.

                      

Reception                                                Children’s Reception  

Art Studio                                             Puppet Theatre and Stage

Dedicated to improving the lives of Morris County children ages 4-17 who have experienced trauma, loss, serious illness or disability, the creative arts therapists and teaching artists at Creative Heartwork offer different programs designed to encourage youngsters to reexamine their experiences, channel their emotions, enhance resiliency and foster healthy adjustment to circumstances beyond their control. Creative Heartwork offers a variety of art therapy workshops currently held once a week for a 90- minute to two-hour duration. Each series is co- facilitated by a master’s level, board certified creative arts therapist and a trained and talented artist. Through these experiences, children at Creative Heartwork learn the feeling of accomplishment and the personnel rewards that come from the completion and the process of making art.

In the Spring of 2005, Carolyn Ward, then Executive Director of the Arts Council of the Morris Area  presented Karen Carbonello with The Josephine Margetts 2005 OUTSTANDING ARTS ADVOCATE Award for her work in creating "a place where these special children can be honored and cherished…A place where a heavy heart can become unburdened through the power of love and the power of the Arts." In recent weeks, Creative Heartwork was also awarded an Arts Council of the Morris Area/Dodge Partnership grant to support three therapeutic arts series, "Comic Relief" (animation), "Between the Lines" (bookmaking) and "If these walls could talk" (mural painting) for 27 teens ages 14-17, who have experienced trauma or loss.

A visit to the Creative Heartwork website, www.creativeheartwork.org provides an inspiring overview of their offerings, details on the varied programs, photos and, most poignantly, the quotes from the youngsters themselves:

Quotes from the children:

• "I always thought I had talent, I just didn't know where to grow it."
  -S. age 7
• "I've been in a lot of programs but yours make me feel better about everything."
  -M. age 10
• "Take a picture of me doing this (making glass beads) so I can remember this feeling."
  -M. age 16
• "All day long in school I can't concentrate; here, I can make art for hours and the time just flies."
  -J. age 15
• "Everyone here is so nice, the projects and music are so much fun -- you should tell every kid not to miss this chance."
  -B. age 12
• "I know where loved ones go after they die...they float into the hearts of everyone that loved them."
  -T. age 9
• "Ten weeks wasn't long enough, I blinked and it was over."
  -K. age 8
• "Therapy? Tell me this isn't therapy! I've been in therapy my whole life and this just can't be therapy-I'm likin' this too much."
  -L. age 9

Reaching those who never responded well to traditional therapy, Creative Heartwork uses the arts as the keys to unlock inner strengths and help to heal the most vulnerable among us.

Contact information:

Creative Heartwork, Inc.   Phone: (973) 889-0809
Email: Karen@creativeheartwork.org or cre8iveones@aol.com
Website: www.creativeheartwork.org