Virtual Wellness Wednesday (3rd Wednesdays):
"Creating Together" with Susan Lopez and Alyson Toone
Wednesday, August 19
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. | Free | Ages +15
Via Zoom, registration required.
Register here: bit.ly/wellnesscreating

Experience a guided meditation with mindfulness teacher Susan Lopez, followed by a community crafting circle led by artist Alyson Toone. The crafting circle, "Creating Together", is a space to bring your talent and talk to like minded people. The virtual crafting circle will focus on creating protest signs, any topic welcome, while conversing about using our creativity for activism! Alyson will guide you through laying out a protest sign to showcase in any way you choose. She will show you how to arrange what you have into a sign, that can be used for social media.

This workshop is recommended for ages 15+ older and is open to makers of all kinds– no experience is necessary. Bring your favorite materials to create and an open heart and mind. Pre-registration required. Participants will receive information on how to access the event through Zoom, upon registration.

Wellness Wednesday is a monthly event at Self Help Graphics & Art, focused on increasing the accessibility of mental health resources in the community through meditation, information sharing and art making. The event happens on the first Wednesday of every month and was created by members of Self Help Graphics' Youth Committee.

+++

About the Facilitators

Susan Lopez is a psychotherapist, attorney, and mindfulness teacher. She is interested in the intersections of social justice, spirituality, and healing. She has practiced mindfulness and Vipassana (Buddhist insight meditation) for six years, spending as long as 30 days on silent retreats. She is certified as a Mindfulness teacher through the UCLA Semel Neuroscience Mindfulness Awareness Research Center. She has a background in immigrants rights and most recently has been working in the addiction community. When she's not meditating or working, her passions include art, herbalism, and nature.

Alyson Toone is a Los Angeles-based textile artist and surface designer. Her graphic aesthetic is informed by art history particularly the Bauhaus, Sonia Delaunay, and traditional West African craft. Alyson, an African-American artist, was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. After she graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2007, she relocated to New York City to pursue a career as a fashion designer. While working for various brands, Alyson maintained a small business creating handcrafted modern jewelry which led to creating with textiles. Due to her personal life experience as a black woman in the fashion industry, much of Alyson's work highlights issues of race, gender and fast fashion. She is often inspired by organic forms in natural science. In 2014, Alyson started teaching design thinking through craft to women. In 2020, she founded Make It Work to teach crafts connected to design thinking and STEAM to professional teams and individuals.