Judy's Path

As a visual and kinesthetic learner, I have been passionately interested in how art and movement could be used as non-verbal ways of expressing feelings and thoughts. I have been curious about how art and movement can increase understanding of ourselves, act as a healing power, or simply invite creative fun. The VALTA project provided an opportunity to not only explore these aspects further but to have them intertwine with work and explorations that Jenny and Mary have done.

The story of my involvement with VALTA began when I was coordinating the Alternative Learning Program (ALP), a literacy and academic upgrading program at the Edmonton John Howard Society. At this time, events and opportunities for putting ideas into action combined to bring Jenny and Mary into my work and life.

When I was at ALP, four women in the space of one month experienced physical abuse from their partners. Feeling concern for these women and unsure of how to offer the best kind of support, other participants in the program suggested that all the women in ALP be invited to a series of meetings to talk about issues of violence. We met weekly over pizza lunches to share stories, discuss how to be supportive, and learn more about the topic of violence. We invited staff members from the Victims' Assistance Program and Family Violence Prevention Centre to share their expertise. One woman initiated the development of a resource binder about community support groups for the classroom. For me, the awareness that I had of violence being part of the fabric of our learning environment at ALP moved from its place of silence into the public arena, in a way that was positive and needed. Serendipitously, at about this time, I joined the focus groups that Jenny led in Edmonton. I began to see the overt and covert types of violence experienced by some of the ALP participants as part of a larger social picture.

With an interest in providing a wholistic approach to learning and having the intention of bringing balance to ALP's programming, I began to make space for experiences that responded to body, mind, emotions and spirit. ALP participants, staff and I began participating in three-day camping and hiking trips to the mountains; playing volleyball and baseball; skating; doing visualization and breath work; writing creatively; and doing yoga, photography, drama, drawing and singing. At this time, holistic learning activities were offered as independent activities. It was later when Mary and I began working with groups of women in Drawing out the Self that I began to pay more attention to how these activities—breath work, movement, art, and music—could be integrated and woven into the fabric of what we were already doing in our programs, courses and workshops.