Schedule:

Friday, March 14th, 7 - 9 pm
Saturday, March 15th, 9 - 5 pm
Sunday, March 16th, 1 - 4 pm

This immersive 12-hour program is designed for adults looking for professional development or an impactful art experience. It invites creative and personal exploration in a friendly, supportive community. Participants make a self-portrait-based puppet - mask which becomes a ‘nuanced artifact resulting in an amazing legacy project’.

Guided by our artist-facilitators, Barb English and Suzanne Clease, and using a basic mask form, paper, paint and ephemera, we reflect, we craft, we discover our metaphors, we gain skills and we have fun. The project concludes with the (optional) opportunity to video a performative reflection, authenticating the experience.

“The experience brought me joy and poignancy as I (re) discovered aspects of myself… it provided a time capsule of when and where I was at the moment” ~ past participant.

This program is part of WP Puppet Theatre’s VIEW Facilitator Training Course which has been developed for helping professionals, to teach them how to deliver the VIEW from the Inside program. As a VIEW is a research-informed* art intervention it was developed to provide authentic self-realization and expressive experiences supporting positive well-being. It is offered on-demand through the Centre for Excellence Therapeutic Recreation in Continuing Care Website for an Introductory price of $50.00 + GST CAN

(*2022 Study by Sheridan Centre for Elder Research)

WP Puppet Theatre is excited to be an Artist in Residence at Sparrow Artspace through March 2025, we are pleased to be presenting our inspiring VIEW from the Inside* program in partnership with Festival of Animated Objects, and we are thrilled to welcome people of all ages to explore their creativity in a supportive community.

*ATB Healing through the Arts Award.

All materials and tools supplied

Cost $99.00 per person.

Bursaries: We have a limited number of bursaries available to those facing financial barriers. To apply for a bursary please complete the application form.

Facilitators:

Suzanne Clease MPS-AT, PCAT, B.Ed.
Suzanne Clease is a professional art therapist with a Master’s degree in psychotherapy. She is a francophone who taught for twenty years in Calgary French immersion schools. Currently Suzanne facilitates art therapy programs for WP Puppet Theatre working in schools and in the community with students and seniors. Her community experiences have included Roots of Empathy, Calgary Children’s Hospital, Calgary Alzheimer’s Society, Creative Aging Calgary Society, Canadian Mental Health Association and Healing Arts Program in Cancer Care at Alberta
Health Services. Suzanne is also involved in delivering grief support workshops and retreats.

Barb English, B.Ed., B.A.
Barb English has a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from UBC. Barb worked for the Calgary Board of Education for 13 years supporting students with complex social/emotional learning needs, before retiring to pursue her own creative practice. Barb is passionate about the power of art to promote positive mental health and wellness. She joined WP Puppet Theatre in Fall 2019 as a workshop facilitator and Manager of the VIEW from the Inside program, and has taught felting to children with Art Felt Studio.

WP Puppet Theatre is excited to serve as Artist in Residence at Sparrow Artspace through March 2025, featuring their award-winning VIEW from the INSIDE program. The residency includes an exhibit of portrait puppets by past participants, video screenings of artist reflections, and pre-registered workshops for all ages to create self-portrait puppet-masks described as “nuanced artifacts with an amazing legacy.” Since 2016, VIEW has engaged over 500 diverse participants, fostering resiliency, community, self-reflection, and emotional expression while promoting mental health and wellness. This initiative is presented in partnership with the Festival of Animated Objects (March 10–23, 2025).

VIEW from the Inside - (12 hr program for Adults)

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WP Puppet Theatre