Join the PMA as we dive into the artwork Untitled (L.A.) by Felix Gonzales-Torres for International Slow Art Day 2023.
Free program; registration encouraged
Community partners from a variety of disciplines will facilitate interactive experiences around resonant themes. Relax, reflect, and deeply consider this powerful meditation on life, loss, and queer expression.
The PMA is proud to join over 150 art venues around the world participating in this annual event. Learn more about Slow Art Day.
Advanced registration is encouraged but not required. ASL interpretation will be available.
10:20 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. – Experience a guided mindfulness exercise with Marcie Parker Griswold from Marigold Workplace Wellness Partners on connectedness with one’s environment, others in the world, and with oneself.
10:40 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. – Discuss the themes of grief, loss, and expression through art with Sara Asch and Briana ‘B’ Hailey from the Center for Grieving Children.
11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. – Engage in Narrative Medicine practices of close looking and reflexive writing with Courtni Jeffers from MaineMed in order to better understand how art can activate all of our senses.
About our community partners
Marcie Parker Griswold is a yoga + meditation teacher and co-founder of Marigold Workplace Wellness Partners, a small consultancy helping Maine businesses design impactful wellness programs for their employees. She's also a marketing manager for Sea Bags, purveyor of totes made of recycled sails, located in the heart of Portland's working waterfront.
Courtni Jeffers has an MS in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University and an MPH from The George Washington University. She is the Assistant Director of Thesis Advising for the Graduate Public Health Programs at the University of New England. Courtni also teaches in the Narrative Medicine Program at Columbia University. In addition to teaching narrative medicine, Courtni also facilitates narrative medicine workshops for hospitals and clinics in Maine, currently co-leading a series with PMA for Maine Medical Center. Her passions lie at the intersection of population health and individual well-being and her collaboration and work aims to reflect the ethical responsibility to both the content and the context of individual and community stories. Courtni’s expertise lies in social marketing, program planning and evaluation, narrative competency, health literacy, and equipping others to give and receive accounts of self in order to further individual and community healing through narrative and cultural humility.
Sara Asch shares responsibility for coordinating our Portland Bereavement Services programming. Prior to joining the staff, Sara maintained a long connection with the Center as an intern, volunteer and training consultant. Her current work at the Center involves working closely with families, volunteers and the community in the areas of grief and loss, program development, outreach, and training. Sara holds a Master's Degree in expressive therapies/counseling from Lesley University with an emphasis in art therapy. She developed an interest in art therapy while working as a K-12 art teacher, witnessing the ways students naturally processed their experiences through their artwork. Sara used art modalities in her private practice offering support to children, teens and adults during bereavement and other life transitions, and has worked as a clinician with adolescents in a group home setting. Passionate about the Center’s mission, Sara also enjoys creating art, being with friends and family, hiking and reading by a fire on rainy days.
Briana ‘B’ Hailey shares responsibility for coordinating bereavement services which includes developing and maintaining relationships with our families and volunteers; meeting folks where they are and supporting all who come through the door. B is a lifelong Mainer currently living in the greater Portland area. She comes to the Center after recently completing a clinical internship at Maine Medical Center’s Emergency Department, where she provided caring support and urgent trauma-informed care to those experiencing significant medical crises. B holds a Master’s degree in Social Work with a certificate in Trauma-Informed Care from The University of New England. Like many who find themselves back at the Center, B began her relationship with us as an intern in 2019, vowing to return as soon as the opportunity arose. She is passionate about social justice, equity, and inclusion. Her hobbies include local exploring, podcast-listening, and spending time with her cats Marshmallow and Binx.
Jointly owned by Art Bridges and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
