Empowering communities through storytelling
At Genesis Center in Providence, we contribute to Creative Pathways, a program that brings English language learning together with the expressive arts. Ana Bess works alongside educators and artists, using drama therapy, improvisation and storytelling to help participants explore their own experiences. The work makes room to practice language, take creative risks and get to know one another.
Participants build stories from their lives and share them through original performances, including I Am Home and Out of My Comfort Zone. In a HowlRound conversation about the process, Ana Bess describes beginning with theatre games and gradually working toward personal narratives. We help create the conditions for people to tell their own stories, in their own voices, and be heard by a wider community.
Matt supported Creative Pathways’ branding and identity, creating a visual language with an international feel. The logo brings together colors from the flags of students’ home countries, celebrating their roots while giving the program an identity they can share.
Next, we’re supporting Creative Pathways in creating an anthology of students’ writing, artwork and storytelling. The book will document the program through the voices of its participants, giving their work a life beyond the classroom.
