College of Fine Arts offers expressive arts

The College of Fine Arts introduced a new minor in expressive arts this semester that will aid students to cope with different situations through self-expression in art.

“The expressive arts really believe in no pathology,” Lecturer I Marylin Carren said. “ … Let’s not diagnose. … Let’s just give tools and, hopefully, they’re helpful.”

Expressive arts is for students who are interested in personal growth and healing using creativity, according to a flyer created by Carren. They can also learn how arts can be applied in counseling and behavioral settings.

Last year, the College of Fine Arts offered an upper-division course, ARTS 4388-01 Special Topics, taught by Jing Zhang, an assistant professor. This made room to explore expressive arts as a minor.

The minor is a collaborative work among the School of Rehabilitation Services and Counseling, the College of Fine Arts and the School of Social Work.

The School of Rehabilitation and Counseling was approached by the School of Art to see if it was interested in collaborating in the development of the minor.

“We coordinate on course offerings, who the instructors are gonna be, [and] we develop the curriculum together,” said Bruce Reed, director of the School of Rehabilitation Services and Counseling.

Reed said he was one of the first to respond due to his knowledge and exposure of expressive arts as an academic discipline.

“It fits the School of Rehab and Counseling very well,” he said. “In our discipline, we work primarily with people with disabilities and help them improve their lives through various means, including counseling.”

The School of Social Work is envisioned to provide instructors for the minor, according to Reed.

The minor is being explored in an undergraduate level; therefore, students cannot get licensure. The minor is more focused on group support for the benefit of the students.

“That’s why we are kind of exploring it on an undergraduate level, [because] we do not provide therapy,” Carren said. “We do not counsel anyone, we just do group support.”

The university’s goal in offering the minor is for students to become interested, and in the future earn a master’s in expressive arts counseling.

Two new classes were introduced this semester, and one more is coming in Spring 2019. The two new classes are EXAR 2300: Foundations Expressive Arts and EXAR 3325: Expressive Arts Theories.

The two classes and EXAR 3300: Expressive Arts Counseling will be offered in Spring 2019.

Some of the activities in the classes are art, movement, dance, improv, journaling, voice, guided meditation, drums, photography and music.

Lecturer I Kim Finn teaches EXAR 2300, which consists of lecture and art projects.

“They learn why this is so helpful and how it can help clients,” Finn said. “[Art] can be such a powerful tool … to get somebody to express themselves in a way without words.”

No prerequisites are required for the minor. All majors are welcomed to apply.

For more information, email marilyn.carren@utrgv.edu.