Art Therapy Studio

The Art Therapy Studio's tireless dedication to improving the lives of those it serves through the therapeutic use of art is an inspiration to the field. Working for an organization comprised of so many art therapists means that the therapists on staff are constantly being inspired, encouraged and challenged to provide high quality and innovative arts based therapy.

The Art Therapy Studio is a truly caring organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for anyone through the therapeutic use of art, and with a specific heart for those with physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges. Its unique services and skilled therapists have touched the lives of thousands of people over the years, including being a training ground for hundreds of therapists working in other places today. It's the oldest (and best!) expressive arts therapy program of its kind in the country,

The Art Therapy Studio is greatly respected in the area and has a great reputation. As another arts education center in the area, we applaud the work they are doing and support their efforts to help others through art.

I sought out this organization for an internship as part of my graduate studies in Art Therapy. I considered it an honor to be selected by the Art Therapy Studio. The Art Therapy Studio serves a broad spectrum of clients both on-site and through-out the community through contracted work with other organizations. The process of creating builds both skills and self-esteem in clients. I have seen the smiles and personal growth of clients first hand when they accomplish something by their own efforts through the nurturing encouragement of the art therapists.

I learned about The Art Therapy Studio simply because it was the only place offering a collage class at the time. A dozen years later, not only do I continue to enjoy the various collage offerings, I have learned that the 'therapy' in art is a beautiful thing for all of us! Friendships have flourished, skills have been honed, and there is a wonderful anticipation to being with a supportive group of people on so many levels. It's very special when you take a class to learn something new and it opens a whole new world to you.

Since 2012, my experience working with ATS staff, volunteers and supporters has been exceptional. This is an organization totally committed to its mission and achieving great results!

i have been at the art therapy studio since 1994 my confidence build showed my art in venues and galleries. living my dream has led to positive results. with anxiety and frustration the therapist works with my issues. the whole art therapy studio community is very supportive i am grateful for the studio a place i can come too. i am still here since 1195 i have found a purpose

I had had a severe , what we might call , mental breakdown/depressive episode, in 2012. Everything in me was on overdrive, and I lost my ability to concentrate, even read a book or a newspaper. Not able to sit still, but needing to do something more, I discovered the Art Therapy Studio on the computer.

I hadn't 'done' any art since grade school, more than 40 years go. I started with clay, then went onto water colors, then crayons, some pastel chalk, now back to watercolors. Sometimes I go large, sometimes small. Gradually, my ability to concentrate and to read a book, came back. I am still quite restless as I also have anxiety/depression and ADD struggles. Art Therapy helps to calm and focus that constant energy into something better.

My counselor says I have problems with emotional regulation (at age 56, uh huh!). I have found that Art Therapy Studio helps me to deal with those very intense emotions in a more positive way.

When my counselor was battling his own cancer, I was battling it too, through art therapy. The unspoken thing, that was REALLY HARD, and that has NO NAME, is the 'theoretical division between a counselor/therapist and his client. Supposedly, as his client, I was just supposed to forget about him and put up that 'fence of distance' between us, like he was supposed to do with me, while going through cancer treatment. (What a crock of nonsense!)

No way, could that possibly have happened, as we have been together for more than 8 years, and we are integral to one another. I helped him to fight his cancer, with my art, cartoons, and cards. He helps to keep me together with his counseling, wit, and enduring patience.

I like the freedom I have, to do what ever I can think of, and I have the gentle and ALWAYS encouraging guidance of the Art Therapists, to help get me through the intensity of what I am usually experiencing. My counselor has seen a really great improvement in me, and he has seen tremendous growth in me through my art. Mainly, he tells me to just keep doing it!

It is no small compliment to say that the Art Therapy Studio has HEALED TWO PEOPLE, NOT JUST ONE, in ways that can't always be expressed. For that particular kind of healing, he and I will be forever, grateful and forever blessed!

Ironically, he and I both started your time together at Metro Health, right where the Art Therapy Studio.org got it's start. Seems fitting, doesn't it?

We are very pleased with services provided by our art therapist. My students look forward to Ashliegh coming each week! I would highly recommend.

I volunteered for the Art Therapy Studio at MetroHealth for what began as a one year journey. Ultimately, I ended up staying for five years and taking 72 hours as part of the Clinical Art Therapy program. The reason I stayed is that I witnessed every Saturday how transformative art as therapy was for both the patients and families. Also tending to echo out into the hospital, it had the tendency to create a more positive attitude and experience for people working at the hospital. We occasionally would have staff join us. Wanting to rejoin this community of care, I recently decided to return to collage to obtain my Master's in Art Therapy and once again feel purpose driven.

Being a part of the Art Therapy Studio has been one of my greatest blessings since moving to NE Ohio. The programs are life-giving to all who participate. If only, there were more places like the Art Therapy Studio.......

I have been taking art therapy classes, at the Art Therapy studio since July, and I throughtly enjoy it. The class that I am taking specifically is "Media Exploration For Those with MS". It is the one day of the week that I know I have a reason to go out. Art therapy allows me to express myself in ways that I did not know I could.

I also like the fact that I am with someone else who is experiencing the same condition, eventhough we are at different stages of the disease. We understand what each is going through.

Our instructor is very good, she has good ideas for projects, and she helps us when we need help,however, she does not take over the project!

I've been volunteering with this organization for over two years and have viewed how much their work helps people. They make contact with a variey of age groups and can accomplish so much through the processes they use. Learning about the methods they use and how people can be affected by the work they do has been an amazing learning experience for me. I love that I can contribute and be a part of the organization.

As a dance/movement therapist, I was interested in experiencing a different creative arts therapy modality. Although I am enrolled in a strictly non-therapy class, a women's painting class, it has been very therapeutic for me. I am learning to "let go" with various types of paint, ink and paper. The teacher is very supportive to all of us, no matter what our talent or lack of talent is. The atmosphere in the class is cordial and non-threatening.
The Cleveland Art Therapy Studio serves an important function in our community; both for those who have difficulty verbalizing their problems in traditional psychological therapy and for others who just want an art experience.

My daughter has been attending Art Therapy Studio for quite some time.We have seen such happiness and satisfaction in her.she was able to appreciate art and become very creative. She proudly shows her art work to our families and friends.She contributes to choosing colors for the rooms.She is also beginning to help little kids paint.Through all this she has become confident and successful .She has got over many of the problems she had.I would strongly support Art Therapy Studio and recommend others do so too.
Dorothy

I have volunteered my time to the Art Therapy Studio's Program Committee. I strongly believe in this form of care. As a person who has dedicated my career to mental health I see the value art therapy has in helping heal lives. I have found the people who work at the Art Therapy Studio to be caring and very professional. Their dedication to helping others is truly uplifting and I am very pleased with the direction the organization is moving towards. As a person who loves art and believes in the empowerment of helping others the Art Therapy Studio helps improve the quality of people's lives.

James Limoli

I am a retired art therapist who worked for the art studio for a short time after graduating from the Art Therapy Masters Program of Ursuline College. As a graduate I was priviledged to have the help needed from the professionals at the art studio. I went on to work with seniors for the next 10 years because of the direction I received from this very knowledgeable staff. I retired 10 years ago but I continue to do my own "art Therapy". I have been taking classes offered by the Art Therapy Studio at the Chagrin Falls and now the Ursuline location since I retired. I also attended many workshops sponsored by the Art Therapy Studio. Each one was a special learning experience. I will continue to attend art classes and workahops when possible. The Art Studio is part of my life! Annette

As a physician and art lover, I was able to experience first hand the wonderful sense of inner peace and lifting of self esteem their classes and workshops provide. The Art Therapy Studio offers an invaluable service to many who otherwise would be truly isolated. They are truly deserving of ongoing recognition and funding.

Susan, a therapist at the Art Therapy Studio, reached and brought me to understand my middle child, who was between 2 special needs children. They formed a relationship with my whole family, so that I went back to receive therapy with a group of ladies doing art. That was a wonderful, healing experience.

It is an honor to volunteer for the Art Therapy Studio. For the clients who do not have a "voice" for expression, and for those who need to strengthen their "voices" through visual art, the Art Therapy Studio provides an invaluable service. The sense of accomplishment while creating one's own masterpiece cannot be measured. Creative, compassionate, and caring...words to describe the staff of the Art Therapy Studio.

The Art Therapy Studio reaches out to the community to provide not only art classes (Discover the Artist) but a system of social support. People (from my experience with the DTA group that I facilitate) who are for the most part socially isolated, can come together and share their stories, support one another and find a common bond through the art. They have a sence of belonging to something. The Art Therapy Studio provides people with a safe place where they aren't afraid to be themselves, where they can try new things and feel successful in their efforts. It is a wonderful thing to see the pride displayed on the face of someone as they smile ear to ear with their latest accomplishment. It is so rewarding to guide people through their uncertainity when they begin a project and give them the support, encouragement and guidance to see things out to the end. The Art Therapy Studio helps so many people through this process, regardless of their ability to pay! The Art Therapy Studio, for as many years as I have been with them, has always provided financial support / scholorship assistance to the many people enrolled in their classes that would otherwise have not have the resources to attend.

The Art Therapy Studio is an incredibly wonderful asset to the Cleveland community. Over the years I have had many connections to the Studio, as a mental health professional taking workshops, a client taking classes, and as a personal friend of co-founder Dr. George Streeter.

How many communities have a welcoming, professionally-staffed place to go to learn about Art Therapy, to just be creative in a broad array of media? The service the Studio provides to those whose faculties are compromised is invaluable. And I personally have greatly appreciated all the opportunities I've had to be encouraged in my creativity there.

The staff... passionate. The clients... embraced. The families touched by the Art Therapy Studio... grateful.

The first time I approached the office of The Art Therapy Studio I was immediately struck by the wonderful sense of possibility, energy and hope. Art Therapy Studio is lead by a group of truly committed, passionate individuals who provide a wealth of knowledge and financial support. The organization makes each penny serve multiple times over. During the years I have known Art Therapy Studio I have heard innumerable stories of the help they have given to so many. Right now they are yet again re-inventing themselves to further improve their programming and serve more individuals. This is truly a great organization!

It must be more than 10 years ago when I first wandered into an art gallery in Chagrin Falls where there was a sign in the back that said "Discover the Artist in You". I was depressed, working 11pm - 7am, divorced, and did not really trust very many people. What I did most of the time was cry. In the back of the gallery, there was a woman named Marty who was teaching a small group of women to paint. They were laughing and having fun, and they all talked to me. Marty said something like I should look around and come back next week. I told her I had no talent for painting, no talent for anything at all. I think Marty heard the desperation in my voice. Marty said she didn't care whether I could paint or not, it didn't matter. She would teach me.
Marty taught me to paint, and she helped me stop crying. She, and the women I painted with for a number of years, in large part, gave me my life back. The Art Therapy Studio was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I still paint at home, I work afternoon shift, I am perusing my BSN, and I trust more. Most importantly, I'm very simply, still alive!

I was privileged to work for the Art Studio as an art therapist for over four years. During that time, I saw firsthand the impact that the arts could have on the lives of people of all ability levels. In addition to expressing themselves creatively, the clients of the art studio came to form a community that was welcoming and supportive to everyone, no matter a person's color, creed or situation. It was truly a blessed experience for all involved, both clients and staff.

I was involved with the Art Therapy Studio for more than eight years when I lived in the Cleveland area. During that time, I saw many students express themselves through art. Art offers an avenue to healing, self expression, and self discovery. This is a fabulous art therapy based organization that is much needed in the community. I highly suggest funding this organization which does so much to support those who often do not have many other resources.

I was previously employeed at the art studio and continue to support all the wonderful activities and services they bring to the greater Cleveland area. The art studio was my introduction to the art therapy field whe I was an art therapy student. I learned more then I could write in this review. To put it simply it made me the therapist I am today and provided me with a strong foundation of art therapy and counseling approaches. The art studio has inspired many future art therapist and continues to provide guideance to future art therapy counseling students.
Rita K.

i have been involved with fund raising for the Art Therapy studio for 15 yrs. i have witnessed first hand the wonderful service the staff provides for the most challenged and in need people. the creative outlet for their clients fills a niche no one else could serve.

I am also a professional with expertise in the field of therapy (not specifically art therapy, just emotional and behavioral health) This is a fabulous organization - the staff are very skilled and caring - I frequently attend their trainings as a professional. I also love their fundraising events as a donor

I have been involved with the organization for over 6 years. I am always amazed at how indepth our therapists get to know our clients and how much they can help by using our innovated art therapy programs.