Kindred Spirits: The Art of Expression

Several months ago, we received a message from a Los Angeles-based photographer, Jamie Siragusa. She was working on a project titled “Love Us All,” which provides art therapy to help children express their feelings about current events in our country.  

At the time, she was working with kids from the Variety Boys and Girls Club in Los Angeles. She started her sessions by asking students to describe how they felt about the way people are treating one another in today’s society. Articulating their feelings with language proved challenging. However, once she provided tools such as paint and markers, they began to express themselves with ease, and Jamie photographed the process and the students’ finished pieces.

As soon as we saw her photographs, we could tell Jamie was a kindred spirit. The most effective educational communities seem to share a desire to help children process their world. By recording how they process, Jamie’s work reminds us of the myriad ways our students express themselves.