News
Roxbury’s Whittier Street Health Center to Unveil Its First Public Art Exhibit as Part of Its Community Garden Expansion
May 5, 2016 (Boston, MA) – From 2 PM to 4 PM Whittier will unveil its first public art exhibit as part of its community garden expansion and Decision Arts Therapy, a program focused on helping teens who have been subjected to violence. Whittier opened it Community Garden in June 2015, and this year’s addition includes a garden for its pediatric and adolescent patients. In addition to the expansion, Whittier will install four large cow-shaped canvasses that will be painted by children from its Decision Arts Therapy program and their families.
“The impact of public art on a community is priceless. Public art has the power to energize our public spaces, arouse our thinking, and transform the places where we live, work, and play into a more welcoming and beautiful environment that invites interactions. We are delighted to launch our very first public art installation.” said Whittier Street Health Center President & CEO Frederica Williams. “Here at Whittier, we are committed to improving the life and well-being of our diverse community. This exhibit will give us an opportunity to celebrate the therapeutic aspect of public art to the mind, body and spirit as well as take civic pride in our Community Garden.”
Art as a language therapy, combined with verbal dialogue, helps to find a more successful resolution to difficulties. The cows in the Kid’s Garden will serve as art canvasses to Whittier’s pre-adolescent and adolescent patients, many of whom have witnessed violence and suffer from trauma. These patients will paint the cows to give them a chance to use their creative skills and express their emotions through paintings.
For more information, please call April Celiz at 617.357.5777 or email at info@cpcglobal.com
About Whittier Street Health Center (www.wshc.org)
Whittier Street Health Center is a Joint Commission accredited, private, non-profit, independently licensed community health center dedicated to providing high quality, reliable and accessible primary healthcare and support services for diverse populations to promote wellness and eliminate health and social disparities. Serving nearly 30,000 clients with approximately 120,000 clinic visits and 20,000 community outreach visits annually, Whittier has a patient base which is ethnically and racially diverse and includes significant numbers of individuals from Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, the South End and Greater Boston. Whittier provides a comprehensive array of 40 healthcare programs and services designed to meet the primary health care, behavioral health, and social needs of the community. Whittier is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a level 3 (highest level) patient-centered medical home. Learn more at www.wshc.org.
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Media Contact: Marwan Albazie
Colette Phillips Communications, Inc.
info@cpcglobal.com /617.357.5777