For more information, contact Kasey Harlin, MA CSAC I, A.R.T.~C. Project Director -  kharlin@pfh.org. 

A.R.T.~C Galleries

[ KIRKSVILLE ]	[ WENTZVILLE ]	[ ST. CHARLES ]
[ KANSAS CITY ]	[ JEFFERSON CITY ]	[ OTHER EXHIBITS ]
[ LOOP EXHIBIT (STL) ]	[ ARCHIVE ]

A.R.T.~C Newsletters

Central Region:
 September 07 - July 08

Eastern Region:
 September 07 - July 08

Western Region:
 September 07 - July 08
 Jul/Aug 2007
 May/June 2007
 March/April 2007
 January/February 2007
 December 2006
 November 2006
 October 2006

When	Venue	Location
Ongoing	Jefferson City ARTC Department of Mental Health Lobby	1706 E Elm St, Jefferson City, MO
August 15, 16 and 17	Trails West!	St. Joseph, MO
August 30 and 31	Wentzville Community Club Homecoming	Wentzville, MO
September 11	Parties on the Parkway	St. Joseph, MO
September 19	Abolition in the Park	Peace Park Columbia, MO
September 20	Red Barn Arts and Crafts	Kirksville, MO
October 4	Rockin on the River	St. Joseph, MO
October 4-5	Historic Shaw Art Fair	Flora Place at Tower Grove Ave St. Louis, MO
October 28	BE ARTC! A Red Ribbon Celebration of Recovery - Portfolio Gallery and Education Center	Grand and Delmar, St. Louis, MO

What is A.R.T.~C?
A.R.T.~C. (pronounced artsy), achieving recovery through creativity, is a creative arts program developed within Preferred Family Healthcare’s not for profit substance abuse treatment program in St. Charles, MO. It was developed to assist substance abusing adolescents to tap into creative talents and convey emotions, thoughts and ideas through alternative means of expression such as painting, sculpting, drawing, music, and poetry. A.R.T.~C. began as a rudimentary creative arts group which was held weekly and provided clients with basic opportunities to create therapeutically themed art, music and writing projects. Over the past four years it has grown into a more centralized component of the overall treatment program, providing more advanced opportunities for creativity in both group and individual settings and is now being offered at all adolescent residential sites in St. Charles, Kirksville, Jefferson City and Kansas City.



The A.R.T.~C  Method
A.R.T.~C. currently consists of one to three groups per week focused on completion of group projects addressing issues pertinent to youth ages 12-17 who are struggling with substance abuse in addition to a variety of related issues. Each group entails a pre-group or post-group discussion centered on the issue of choice (ie emotions, impact of substance abuse, family issues, past trauma, asking for help, coping strategies) coupled with the completion of a project that allows the issue of focus to be expressed in an alternative, creative manner. In addition creative expression is being utilized in individual therapy through the use of drawing journals, poetry journals, lyric analyses and various art projects. We have found that adolescents tend to express themselves more openly through these unconventional means. These young people are discovering talents they never knew they had leading to an increase in overall feelings of self worth and the discovery of sober recreational outlets they can participate in following their completion of treatment.



A.R.T.~C Goals
Despite the tremendous growth of A.R.T.~C. since its inception, we are far from reaching our goal. As A.R.T.~C. is supported solely through donations we are consistently writing grants and seeking out potential funding sources. Our mission is for A.R.T.~C. to become an even more centralized component of our comprehensive treatment program to include acquisition of equipment to develop a fully operational digital recording studios, and enough musical instruments to allow our many musically talented clients to produce their own therapeutically themed musical pieces (ie electric guitars, electric bass, drum set, keyboard, hand drums). Anyone who works with adolescents knows how integral music is to their lifestyle. Securing these musical resources will broaden our abilities to reach these youth who often express themselves more articulately through less direct more creative means. Also we want to expand our visual arts program to include availability of more advanced media such as a pottery wheels and photography equipment. Our ultimate dream would be to have buildings separate from our current facilities that would house a fully stocked visual arts and music studios. Our plan also includes the development of a creative mentoring program that will solicit the assistance of local artists and musicians in providing creative instruction and mentoring to our clients. The remarkable impact of creative expression on the young people with which we work becomes more and more evident every day. It is the aim of Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc. to always think outside of the box and consistently strive to provide the highest quality care to our clients through the most innovative means possible.

Thank You to the following organizations and individuals whose contributions have made the development, maintenance and growth of A.R.T.C. possible:

Katee Hessler Foundation

Mayor Patricia York, City ofSt. Charles

Walters Golf Management and Golf Charities of Greater St. Louis

Ben Franklin of Macon, MO

Dollar Tree of Kirksville, MO

Farm House Crafts, Cathy Kellison Owner

Schneider Construction

Boyer Construction

Alpha Tau Omega, Truman State University

Circle K, Truman State University

Ginny Shaller, NCADA St. Louis

Susan Eakman

Tim Matheney

Portfolio Gallery and Education Center

The Foundry Art Centre

The Market in the Loop

P.S. Gallery

Washington Street Java Company

The Fabric Co. of St. Louis

Parker and Karen Bena 

Guitar Center Foundation 

O'Fallon, MO Optimist Club 

Atelier CMS Inc.