Art helps students cope with strong feelings

Published 2:54 pm Thursday, January 24, 2008

For many people, artists included, standing in front of a blank canvas with a paint brush can cause anxiety. The same goes for children with severe behavior problems.

That stress can be a good thing, says Denise LeBlanc, a teacher who uses art in her behavior support class at Penny Creek Elementary.

Penny Creek is the feeder school in the south end of the district for children with severe behavior problems. Self-contained classes aim to teach children the social skills needed to function.

This year, LeBlanc, herself an artist, began using art intensively in her class of five students, aged 8 to 11. A grant from the Everett Public Schools Foundation helped her outfit the classroom with professional watercolors and acrylics, pastels and heavy art paper.

But introducing the students to art wasn’t easy. While some students felt comfortable right away, others did not.

“I have a couple of kids who acted out, were totally against doing any art work,” said LeBlanc. “(They said): ‘I don’t like art, I’m not good at art.’”

Walking into a room with that kind of resistance was daunting. But now, five months later, each of her students looks forward eagerly to the art projects, she said.

LeBlanc herself feels anxiety when she paints. She’s a watercolor artist who’s had her work hung in galleries and still does pieces on commission.

“It never was a stress reliever for me,” LeBlanc said. “A lot of people think art is really relaxing. I know lots of artists who enjoy the process, but few will say, ‘This was really relaxing.’”

When students get anxious or frustrated when doing art, that can be good, LeBlanc said.

“It gives them an opportunity to work through that — to build some skills for how to respond when under stress,” she said.

Students then apply that skill to other projects, like finishing an English paper, she said.

LeBlanc is trying to use art every day in the classroom. By doing it so often, the students have become more comfortable with it.

In their art projects, the students also learn social skills, including giving and receiving compliments. When students made volcanoes out of clay, they were effusive about each other’s work.

“I can remember them complimenting each other to the hilt: ‘What a lovely volcano, what a lovely mountain,’” LeBlanc said.

Art helps the students learn skills to cope with strong feelings as well. LeBlanc has taught them to visualize the most comforting place they can imagine, then to visit that place mentally when they feel upset or frustrated.

One day, she had her students paint that place. One student painted himself on a dirt bike.

In the art projects, LeBlanc emphasizes the process over the final result. When they’re finished, students might not have a perfect picture, but they can see the things they did do well and feel satisfaction in finishing something, LeBlanc said.

“It evokes a lot of feelings some of them are not used to — positive feelings they get when they come up with a product,” LeBlanc said.

When she started the program, though, she had her fears.

“I’m still worried about it,” she said. “The only thing I’m worried about is having them get paint all over their clothes. When they’re working they kind of lose track of where the paint is and sometimes they wear (it).”

Now that the students will be using heavier paints, she’s asked them to bring clothes to paint in.

Students are now starting to refer to themselves as artists and talk about possible careers in art. One student said he wanted to paint designs on cars when he grows up.

“That’s what I want the kids to come away with, something they can feel good about, that’s their own,” LeBlanc said. “It’s something they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.”