Community Services
Expressive Arts Burlington is proud to work with the following organizations to bring the expressive arts to all aspects of the community. It is our pleasure to help enrich the lives of fellow community members through partnerships and special events. If you have a community organization and are interested in integrating expressive arts facilitation into the work you do with clients, please contact Topaz Weis, REACE® at (802) 343-8172 or topaz@expressiveartsburlington.com to inquire about experience, rates, and availability. Group sessions may range from 1.5 hours to full day events. Individual sessions (including caretakers) are 1-1.5 hours.
Read below to learn how Expressive Arts Burlington helps serve the community.
Jacob Weber collages in the studio. Weber runs the Howard Center Knight Lane Resource Center and coordinates group activities for adults with developmental disabilities. Weber’s groups come to the studio twice a month for adaptive experiences in creative expression.
Expressive Arts for all abilities
Art is inclusive
Creating inclusive and accessible expressive arts experiences is a core focus of Expressive Arts Burlington’s mission in the community. Expressive Arts Burlington works with many programs in the area to provide adaptive experiences for individuals of all cognitive and physical abilities.
The intermodal framework of expressive arts facilitation lends itself well to these adaptive experiences. Having multiple modalities sequenced in the same session opens up many points of entry for individuals to connect with themselves, their peers, and their art—all in the container of a safe and supportive environment. In addition to providing a sense of connection, expressive arts facilitation is able to bring a sense of independence and autonomy to individuals experiencing disability. The size of each workshop is designed to provide specialized focus. It optimizes the sense of accomplishment and purpose each individual leaves with at the end of the session.
Bridging – Champlain Community Services
Bridging’s mission is to connect young adults with disabilities to opportunities within the local community to establish positive, community-based relationships. Expressive Arts Burlington is happy to work with Bridging students to help fulfill their mission to:
- Innovate new ways to engage and connect
- Create a safe, supportive space for young adults with disabilities
- Facilitate a sense of autonomy, help develop social skills, and grant each student the opportunity to create in a small community setting
- Integrate students into their greater community
Expressive Arts in Education
Art Grows young minds
Students across the state of Vermont have both visited the Expressive Arts Burlington studio and welcomed Topaz Weis, REACE® onto their campuses to experience the creative power of expressive arts facilitation. The expressive arts are a powerful tool in education. They offer students the ability to innovate and develop new perspectives, problem-solve in community, and feel supported by their peers.
kids can be kids
Giving children a safe space to explore their curiosities and creative passions has great benefits. It allows kids to simply be kids—to exercise their imagination and engage in creative play. Where words and concepts may be hard to articulate, students can discover new avenues of self-expression through the expressive arts. The more we encourage our children to learn creatively, the more we teach them that creativity has a place at every table. Expressive Arts Burlington has worked with the following institutions:
Expressive Arts and Memory Care
Art Inspires Memories
The multimodal approach of expressive arts has proven to be a powerful tool for working with memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies show that engaging in the arts gives back to Alzheimer’s patients, in some part, what the disease has taken away. It stimulates the senses, enhances self expression and can trigger dormant memories. It puts language back into the life of someone who struggles to speak. Whether viewing or creating it themselves, people with various forms of memory loss can use the expressive arts as a powerful tool for expression.
Expressive Arts Burlington is happy to bring the benefits of expressive arts facilitation into the lives of memory care patients in the Burlington area. Topaz Weis, REACE® brings group sessions to Maple Ridge Memory Care and Maple Ridge Lodge and has facilitated memory care expressive arts groups locally at the Ethan Allen Residence.
“Topaz is such an asset to the programming at Ethan Allen Residence. She has the ability to connect with small or large groups of our residents, or one on one. Topaz has the innate ability to unite a group of people with various needs towards a common goal of creativity and self-expression.
She is intuitive to what will be successful with our population, and as a result, our residents connect with her and with each other in creating art and expressing themselves. I have seen people who face many challenges grow and find a voice and confidence with her guidance.
Topaz leads with love and respect. Everyone who has the opportunity to do expressive arts with her finds new and exciting capabilities. She is a treasure, and the residents thrive in her presence” — Tasha Stouffer, Former Director of Resident Programs, Ethan Allen Residence, Burlington, VT
Community Partners
Art is collaborative
Housed within the 208 Flynn building, Expressive Arts Burlington lives among a network of local businesses and organizations that all serve the Burlington community in their own unique ways. Expressive Arts Burlington has been lucky to collaborate with many of these local businesses in co-developing experiential offerings. Whether it be summer camp sessions or teaching students new skills, Expressive Arts Burlington works hard to establish positive relationships with community partners to bring truly immersive experiences to the community. The expressive arts can be integrated into any experience or offering.
Murmurations Aerial
Expressive Arts Burlington teams up with Murmurations Aerial to host multi-part summer camps for kids aged 7-15, and soon for adults. The combination of expressive arts and aerial flow creates a fun, creative experience for students to explore their imagination. Activities combine dramatization, storytelling, visual arts, and aerial dance.
