Under the Willows Summer Initiative
Dr. Ruth Pickering was inspired to create this Initiative in Hamilton after having the good fortune to participate in activities at the original Spiral Garden in Toronto in 1994. Since that time, the idea of developing a "Spiral Garden" in Hamilton has been the dream of many of us and we have been systematically laying the ground work for this project. The generous offer of the Board of Directors for Lynwood Hall Child and Family Centre to site the garden "under the willows" on the new site of Lynwood Hall (open May 2002) provided us with an ideal setting for the project and ready access to some of the children we intended should benefit from this Initiative. There have been gifts from individuals in the community and we have received both continuing financial support and emotional and material support since we launched the Initiative with the art show Visual Voices of Children and Traces of Crows at Sheridan Gallery in November, 2000.
Under the Willows is guided by Dr. Ruth Pickering, a retired Child Psychiatrist and community leader in the Hamilton community who has dedicated her life to children. With Ruth's guidance Under the Willows has evolved into a collaborative program among three original community partner organizations: Lynwood Hall Child and Family Centre (a children's mental health centre with which Dr. Pickering is affiliated), Interval House of Hamilton-Wentworth (a Hamilton-based shelter for abused women and children) and Niwasa Headstart Preschool (a preschool program which serves and is operated by members of the Native community). The partnership currently includes Lynwood Hall, Interval House and the Catholic Children's Aid Society of Hamilton.
Dr. Pickering's professional work for over 30 years has been with children who have experienced abuse, trauma, neglect and deprivation. Many of these children have been witness to domestic violence. Many have experienced poverty, witnessed alcoholism or drug use and have experienced living away from their homes, whether in a Women's Shelter, Foster care or Residential Treatment Centers or group homes. Consequently these children often miss many of the normal experiences of being with safe, capable adults who can provide them with access to nurturing, creative opportunities to explore the world of nature, artistic expression, and relationships and to work cooperatively with other children and adults. Most importantly many of these children have had inadequate opportunities to experience themselves as persons with abilities, of having personal agency, and of being seen to be persons of value.
Through the metaphor of the garden, children Under the Willows will celebrate their interdependence within the natural world as the context for healing. By re-focusing from disabilities and problems to possibilities and support, the artists/participants of Willow will assist each child to overcome obstacles (whether presented by a physical or emotional disability or some other external or internal obstacle). Within this context, the artists, the materials, and the physical-emotional context of ability, creativity, cooperation and support of each other provides Under the Willows with an environment in which children can extend themselves and create. They can experience themselves as whole unique persons with talents and offerings not only in the Garden, but also in their lives outside it!
We invite you to join us in assisting this unique project to continue to grow for our community.
