About
At the heart of both individual and social change, we are called to find ways to “own” our leadership in the face of challenge, sustain action over time, and replace isolation with community. These are neither easy nor simple, yet they are at the core of change-making.
As a Durational Art incubator, AWBW’s aim is to foster a collective space of innovation and build practices that invite individuals and communities to explore the following elements together:
Inviting the Journey as Art:
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Create: How can art empower us to locate and crystalize our wishes for change?
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Carry: How can art offer a path to nurture creative, feasible, sustained action over time?
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Connect: How can art become a key to connection within ourselves and with others?
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AWBW intentionally seeks to nurture, honor, and interconnect the leadership of all participating in this journey, each an innovator in our own lives, circles, and communities. Thank you to all who have explored with AWBW so far. Your experiences and stories create this lived offering.
Watch this video to hear the voices of durational journeyers who piloted this work in 2018/2019 with Touchstone Journey. They share how trauma shows up in their lives and communities and how they are envisioning durational resources for change.
Impact
AWBW invites us to create art-anchored pathways for sustainable change-making, from the cellular to the systemic. Here is glimpse into examples of durational art serving in a range of settings:
Transforming Trauma in South Carolina Department of Corrections
“I see this as a method of change… There’s a different way to do corrections.”
—Ms. Thompson, SCDC Administrator
Through #PrisonersToo, created in partnership with Just Detention International, incarcerated people can share their #MeToo stories. With social media off limits inside prison, art anchors ongoing dialog and transformation.
Addressing Historical Trauma at United American Indian Involvement
“We reach those who are touched by multi-generational trauma, people who feel invisible, people who are hidden.”
—Susan Lee, PhD, Windows Facilitator at UAII
In the context of her work with families impacted by longstanding historical trauma and estrangement across generations, Dr. Susan Lee created Relationship Reset Stones as creative seed of change.
Destigmatizing Mental Health in LAUSD
“I feel like windows gave us space… almost a permission slip to be vulnerable… and to not shame those feelings.”
—Sally Stevens, MSW, PPS, LAUSD Psychiatric Social Worker & Windows Facilitator
For Sally Stevens, working with students, staff and faculty in LAUSD, trauma showed up as “smiling faces with broken hearts and unexplained symptoms and behaviors.” Her district-wide project used art to change the culture: “art makes help-seeking okay.”
Addressing Racism with Justice Journey Jars
“Touchstones are a powerful tool to anchor our learnings and ongoing conversations.”
—Jamie Escoto, Touchstone Journeyer and former AWBW board member
Jamie struggled with how to respond to her five-year-old son Lorenzo’s questions on the murder of George Floyd, race and racism. They created Justice Journey Jars to guide their discussions and begin a lasting journey of activism.
Creating Daily Practices with Minimum Daily Stones
“I was experiencing depression for some years. This resource helps me stay on track.”
—Teresa Smith, Windows Facilitator & Founder of Being the Best Me
Inspiration
To spark your ideas, we welcome you to listen to these journeyers share how their durational art grounds them.
2023 Innovator Spotlight
This series spotlights art-based practices AWBW Facilitators are currently prototyping in the areas of indigenous justice, foster youth, student leadership and mental health, queer API joy, combating hate, and fostering self-compassion. Each innovator is exploring how art can be embedded in their work a resource to crystalize leadership in the face of challenge, sustain action over time, and build a fabric of change.
Nicole “Nikki” Crow, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes, is a Care Coordinator at United American Indian Involvement, Inc. (UAII) in the 7 Generations Prevention and Aftercare program. United American Indian Involvement, Inc is the largest provider of human and health services for American Indians/ Alaskan Natives living in the County of Los Angeles.
Nikki humbly invites both indigenous and non-indigenous people on an innovative durational art journey, Fix Your Side of the Feather, walking side-by-side, on a path towards truth, healing and a commitment to reconciliation, as we explore the experiences of the original stewards of this land and our relationship with them.
Pat Conlon is from Stepping Forward LA, an organization dedicated to empowering young adults aging out of foster care to transition successfully to adulthood and reach their fullest potential. During the pandemic, they pivoted from in-person events and created an app for current and former foster youth, designed as a resource hub and community building platform.
Pat will be leading 20 interns working on the app, all former foster youth, through the Touchstone Journey. Through leading and innovating this experience, they will create a fabric of connectivity through the app that shares their journey for future users to witness and expand.
Stacia Kato is president of the PFLAG San Gabriel Valley Asian Pacific Islander chapter which has supported parents, individuals, and allies at the intersection of LGBTQ+ and Asian for the past ten years; building upon a rich 50-year history of the PFLAG National organization.
As a Durational Art Innovator, Stacia will offer participants an opportunity to notice their truth, strength, and beauty over time as individuals and as part of the community. The intention is to heal oneself and foster each individual’s leadership so that they become the next generation of leaders of the community.
Carlos Mares is a Wellness Therapist at Nuview Bridge Early College High School providing Social Emotional Learning opportunities to At Promised students enrolled in grades 9th-12th.
As a Durational Art Innovator, Carlos is ecstatic to provide containment and space for students, staff, and families to engage in Social Emotional Transformative Arts. Through the lens and the voice of the students, parents, and staff he supports, Carlos aspires to build art-based resources and practices on campus that promote voice, access, and agency which are the ingredients and protective factors to support the wellbeing of our school community.
Christina Kataoka is Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving race and human relations for over three decades using mediation, restorative justice, and other dispute resolution practices.
As a Durational Art Innovator, Christina is developing Wings Against Hate, an art-based initiative inviting community members to “build their wings,” creating a resource and circle of support to activate change in the face of acts of hate. Through her toolkit and resources that support creative healing and community response, Christina hopes to empower individuals to activate connection when we need it most.
La Shonda Coleman is the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Pepperdine University and Founder of Trauma and Healing in Colour, a program that fuses art, somatic based healing modalities, training and education to promote wellness. As a licensed clinical social worker she engages faith-based communities and walks alongside young adults as a mentor, coach, therapist, and bridge.
As a Durational Art Innovator, La Shonda will invite clients to memorialize their healing journeys and author their life stories using Touchstones. This durational journey will be empowering and will include self-compassion practices, somatic based resilience skills building and art.
Opportunities
We welcome you to join and innovate with us!
Impact Journey Circle: If you’d like access to quarterly online workshops to support your own personal wellness and leadership, please join our Impact Journey Circle (IJC). This is AWBW’s beloved circle of sustaining supporters. With IJC, the impact goes both ways—fueling healing throughout AWBW’s network nationwide and abroad—and fueling your own journey. Together, we create change. Explore more and join here.
Windows of Connection: Join our 2023 community journey! This free collective resource invites you to create an anchor you can use throughout the year to pause and connect with your strength. Includes DIY intro video, quarterly inspirations and a sharing portal to celebrate our collective strength. Explore more and join here.
Windows Leadership Training: If you would like to become a trained AWBW Facilitator to implement art workshops within your organization and/or community, you are welcome to attend AWBW's 2-Day Training: 2 days of trauma-informed, experiential learning, creativity and connection. Explore more and join here.
Customized Offerings: If you wish to receive guidance through a customized durational art workshop, training, or individual coaching, let us know by emailing durational@awbw.org.