Maria Kim, PhD, faculty in the Art Therapy/Couple and Family Therapy Program, had her article, “Understanding Open Studio Process in School Settings: Facilitators’ Insights” was published in Art Therapy, the journal of American Art Therapy Association. This article contains important information about the Open Studio Process that has not been studied before, and therefore, it holds significance in the field.
The study explores facilitators’ experiences of the Open Studio Process (OSP) and its uses in school settings. Using a mixed method approach, the study conducted an online survey and six interviews of 27 OSP facilitators. Results underscore three general features of OSP: therapeutic rather than therapy; use for self-care; strengths and weaknesses. Facilitators also described applications, challenges, and potentials of OSP in schools. OSP emerges as a versatile preventative intervention, offering accessibility, meeting diverse needs, enhancing creativity, healing, autonomy, and self-esteem for facilitators and participants, and showing potential for use in schools. Practical implications include integrating OSP into therapeutic and educational settings. OSP exhibits promise in nurturing wellbeing and personal growth in diverse contexts, warranting continued exploration and implementation efforts.
OSP is a structured sequential artmaking program that combines expressive writing. Unlike general open studio practices where individuals engage in various artmaking activities freely, the program follows the guiding principles of No-Comment and Referencing and typically lasting two to three hours. OSP is facilitated by trained facilitators who also engage in artmaking of their own alongside with the participants, fostering nonhierarchical environment.
Kim was also one of the featured member of American Art Therapy Association in May. She is a Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC) through the American Art Therapy Association, a clinical member and an Approved Supervisor in-training of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a clinical member of the Korean Art Therapy Association. Kim is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in the state of California and Illinois.
