Victims and survivors of crime are invited to take part in an art therapy project in Chilliwack.
Project Phoenix is not just an art exhibition, but a form of art therapy and healing process to help survivors and victims of crime. It’s being offered by Chilliwack Community Services and the artwork that will be created during the sessions will later be on display at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre.
“The premise of art therapy is that you discover what’s going on with you whilst you do the art. And then in the discovery process there is a healing that happens simultaneously,” said Anna Dos Santos, art therapist and director of family services at Chilliwack Community Services.
The project is a free service and open to anyone age 16 and older who has been a victim of crime, such as a home invasion, car crash or hit-and-run.
“For some people, someone stealing your purse is extremely traumatic. Trauma doesn’t have limits,” she said. “We tend to think people aren’t traumatized by petty crimes. They are because their space has been invaded and their voice has been taken away from them.”
Project Phoenix is a way for the victims to process their trauma in a safe way, she added.
Both the Chilliwack Cultural Centre and the Justice Institute of Canada have collaborated to make the project happen by offering up a place to hang the completed artwork and providing funding, respectively.
When people call or email to sign up for the art therapy project, they will first fill out a registration form and then go through a screening process to make sure Project Phoenix is a right for them. (If incident is too raw, it’s not a good fit because the person might get triggered again, Dos Santos said.)
It consists of six 90-minute virtual workshops. Participants will get directives from each weekly session and will be able to work on their piece at home, in a safe place.
The Government of Canada has dedicated Nov. 14 to 20 as Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, so the artwork will be hung in the foyer of the Chilliwack Cultural Centre during that time, from Nov. 15 to 18.
Dos Santos said there are two goals she’d like to see with Project Phoenix: she’s hoping the participants will experience the victory of mastering their own pain to a place where there’s hope again, and she wants people in the community to know that crime is everywhere and there is help.
Art therapy is expensive, she pointed out, so this free workshop series is a way to offer it to those who cannot afford it.
“It’s such an incredible opportunity to serve the community.”
People do not need to be artists to sign up.
“We want to help people out of their pain and agony of what has happened and create beauty so they can also find closure. And in your closure, there should be celebration.”
Only survivors of crime can attend. It is recommended that participants have done some therapeutic work prior to participation of the workshops. For safety and security reasons, people who have a registered file with the RCMP, or who are currently involved in court procedures will not be accepted. The sessions take place on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and begin the first week of October. Art supplies will be provided.
To register for Project Phoenix, contact Anna Dos Santos at dossantosa@comserv.bc.ca or 604-793-7237. The deadline to register is Sept. 30.
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