A Letter from West Market Makers
Greetings! My name is Teresa Bauer and I work with The LOT Project.
Over the last year, The LOT Project has been developing our West Market Makers Program, an art studio and workshop with woodworking tools, making it the most unique offering to the community we serve. Our focus here is building relationships around arts and creativity.
You may ask what can the ARTS do in this world of breakdown when depression, anxiety, and chaos are the common language? Art seems superfluous when we have very real problems to address in our increasingly tumultuous culture.
Science reveals that art and creativity hold many benefits, especially when it comes to caring for our mental health. Art is proven to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. It improves critical thinking and empathy, and exercises our imagination, a necessary part of being human. When our feelings cannot be expressed in words, artistic expression can channel our emotions.
Art helps us focus deeply, and frees us to imagine a more helpful future.
Art provides a way to find wholeness in a broken world.
In the workplace, art can be used for team building and collaboration. Art encourages the imagination, and when teamed with our logical, rational thinking, greater possibilities become available. In other words, we can art ourselves out of a rut. We can find solutions that were not seen before we allowed art to unlock them.
Understanding this, we want to contribute to the health of our community, not only to the guests we serve, but as a whole by inviting groups like yours to benefit from a peaceful and life-giving environment where you can find creativity and expression. This could include your clients or your staff. We are no stranger to the effects public service positions can have on our mental well-being.
Below are what we have found successful in the past year:
Open Door Sessions on Mondays and Fridays are the communal side of art and expression at West Market Makers. We invite meaningful connections through artistic engagement in a group setting around the table. These hours are open to anyone who wants to experiment and learn new mediums/techniques in an organic setting.
On Mondays, we also host a resident handyman that guides and mentors others who want to develop some skills in the wood-shop or need help with a project.
Art Play Tuesday is held during our community meal for those that we serve and is centered around a simple art project each week. Our guests and volunteers have an opportunity to sit in a peaceful environment and are introduced to art as a friend to be enjoyed rather than feared. These moments have given us a unique and special way to build relationships with the people we serve so that we can walk alongside them on their journey to wholeness and rehabilitation.
As we look forward and build on the foundation we have set, we would like to invite groups like yours to use our space as a resource that will benefit your clients and/or staff.
What would this look like?
You could simply use our art studio to facilitate your own projects. This would be ideal if you don’t have a room in your own facility to encourage creative or team building exercises.
We can provide a facilitator to lead participants through a simple, peaceful creative activity using materials of your choosing (ex. Paint, clay, textile, etc.)
Please send me an email teresa.bauer@thelotproject.com for questions or feel free to visit any of these times to see in person how we can best serve you.
Monday 2-4
Tuesday 4-6
Friday 2-4
We hope you will consider how we can serve you.
Teresa Bauer
West Market Makers
The LOT Project