Well Beings Studio: On a Mission to Bring Healing Through Poetry

I recently had the honor of meeting a woman named Sharon Frances, the Executive Artistic Director at Well Beings Studio. Well Beings Studio is on a mission to provide arts-based resources to children and their families as they navigate through cancer, trauma, and hardships. Their goal is to create an inclusive community where every person can safely heal and process through artistic expression and connection with others. They offer a number of programs to help aid this mission, and several of them involve poetry. Sharon graciously walked me through some of their poetry-based programs and the mission behind each one. 

Sharon and the team at Well Beings Studio make it their goal to help children feel seen and loved and to show them the healing power of art. Here is a deeper look at four of the programs offered through Well Beings Studio. I know you’ll be just as moved as you read about the wonderful work they are doing through community and poetry.

Pocketful of Poems

Pocketful of Poems is a six-week program for children with severe medical conditions that helps them engage in the art of reading and writing poetry together. With a focus on poetry and community, this program connects children to their creativity and to one another. 

Amplify Your Voice

This six-week course is geared toward teenagers with the goal of creating an environment where they can safely process challenging emotions through art and community. This is a great opportunity for teens to see the therapeutic benefits of writing and the empowering effect it has on our hearts as we seek to understand the complex emotions and experiences that make us all human.

Shifting the Tides: Yoga Poems for all Ages 

This dynamic and interactive project features poems about yoga poses and is supplemented with an accompanying video. The beautiful combination of poetic imagery, artwork, and yoga breathing and stretching helps introduce children to caring for their minds and bodies in fun and creative ways.

Wet Wings: Poetry Through Breast Cancer

Frances, a breast cancer survivor, shares poetry from her book that walks through her personal journey with cancer. She has also created a workshop that combines reading from Wet Wings and creating beautiful and personalized art. 

All of these programs and workshops do a great job of helping children take care of themselves—in both mind and body—through the power of poetry and art in a community environment. Well Beings Studio works hard to raise awareness and to provide resources for families struggling with cancer or trauma. They give people a safe space to grieve and process difficult emotions. Their arts-based programs give families an opportunity to come together and work through grief, loss, and heavy emotions in times of illness and hardship. Their programs create bonding opportunities and thoughtful activities that cater to the hearts and emotions of each participant. At Well Beings Studio, every person is given the chance to express themselves through art and activity. 

For more information about Well Beings Studio, be sure to check out their website.