Art Heals: Small Factory of Fair Haven Helps Hospital Patients

Have you ever presented your child with a box of crayons and paper and then watched as his mood completely transformed? Think of the time you spend waiting patiently for your meal at a restaurant. Often, the hostess will give your child crayons and an activity book to keep him engaged and happy while dinner is on its way. Today, the iPad or smart phone may have replaced some of that creative table time, but many kids are still engaged and enthusiastic about their individual activity no matter the media providing the entertainment.

The same goes for children who are spending most of their days in treatment, undergoing tests and surgery in our country’s hospitals. The need to dream and replace their negative and anxious thoughts or even to simply fill their days with something different and exciting is important, and the arts and technology are helping them to heal and have fun.

For several years, Small Factory has partnered with Artworks, The Naomi Cohain Foundation to help patients across New York and New Jersey to do just that! It has been an incredible experience.

Weekly, Small Factory has made visits to the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) in Bronx, NY, The University Hospital in Newark, NJ, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, NJ, the Initiative for Women with Disabilities in NYC, Hackensack Hospital in Hackensack, NJ, Harlem Hospital in Harlem, NY, and will be starting at Bellevue Hospital in NYC this month through Artworks’ Residence Program, Intensive Creative Artist in Residence (ICAIR). ICAIR provides creative arts workshops in hospital settings for children and young adults suffering from chronic and life-threatening conditions.

Artistic expression can be a powerful means of personal transformation and emotional, physical and spiritual healing, especially for those struggling with chronic illness. We don’t plan for illnesses; these experiences usually catch us by surprise and can dramatically change our lives. These experiences are especially life changing for children and young adults. For Small Factory and Artworks, capturing the minds and imaginations of these children provides them with a much-needed sense of freedom and the opportunity to express themselves, which can be empowering.

Throughout the year, we collaborate with children and young adults bedside, individually or in a group setting. Our goal is to ensure that the creative process is equally exciting, entertaining and educational.

Recently, Small Factory’s Chris Dudick worked with a group of kids at The University Hospital in Newark, NJ to help them create their very own animated cartoon short. The children in the group are primarily sickle cell patients and they decided that they wanted their characters to be superheroes. There were two villains- “Sickle” and “LP” (low platelets) that were related to the struggles the children face when afflicted with sickle cell disease. The children were loving the program so much that one boy who only needs to come to the hospital every three weeks for a transfusion was making a point of coming weekly so he can be more involved in the process. It’s beyond rewarding for us to work with these kids!

Small Factory’s Studio Manager Kimberly Bruno has also been working as an artist in residence at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) in Bronx, NY every Friday. This year was her second year visiting hospitals for Small Factory’s off-site programs. “I have so many wonderful things to say about the staff and patients at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in Bronx, NY,” says Kim. “Everyone there has made my experience enjoyable. My favorite memory from this year was working with a 15 year old boy who I saw every week. He was a dialysis patient and had one of the best personalities ever given his situation. He recently got his ‘Make-A-Wish’ granted and I got to help him take all his pictures from that day and turn it into a video slideshow with music included. He was so excited to tell me all about his experience and even more excited to learn how to take his pictures and make them into a slideshow movie.”Often, we receive feedback from the patients we work with. One of the patients Kim had the pleasure of working with said, “Kim is a CHAM Champion! She taught me how to make art work and create new things.”

Small Factory’s Intensive CAIR workshops enable individuals to engage in creative expression while confined to the hospital. Collaborative creative arts activities serve to reduce stress and anxiety, decrease attention to pain, and normalize the hospital experience for young patients and their families. For those children who are unable to participate in activities outside of their bed, Small Factory offers a bedside program, which allows them to get involved without having to leave their room. It also provides entertainment for children who are in isolation and not allowed to leave their rooms. Our instructors offer activities such as art on the computer, animation and music making. Rather than covering specific topics, our instructors encourage them to do whatever they want in this program.

The next time you visit a child in the hospital, consider bringing art supplies to help them heal. You can also host an art supply drive through the Artworks’ Surprise! Supplies program to help the foundation deliver art supplies to children in hospitals. Visit www.artworksfoundation.org for more information and if your organization or business would like to partner with Small Factory to bring joy to patients in hospitals, via the arts and technology, please call us at 732-212-1088. Together, we can make a difference in their lives.

About Small Factory Productions

Small Factory Productions, located at 560 River Road, Suite C in Fair Haven, NJ, helps to build innovative young minds through its children’s arts and technology programs. Small Factory’s instructors have created exciting art programs that meet NJ and NY Core Content Standards for Language Arts, Literacy and Visual and Performing Arts. Students in classes at Small Factory’s production studio and at more than 30 public and private schools across New York and New Jersey have improved, both academically and socially, thanks to Small Factory’s unique curriculum. http://www.smallfactory.com