CAROLINA BEACH — Therapeutic arts workshops will be offered for free for residents of Carolina Beach who receive a cancer diagnosis, with applications open this month.
Island Arts Council is presenting the “Clay Community Healing Arts,” a new program providing free workshops for island residents navigating a cancer diagnosis or undergoing treatment and recovery. The goal is to promote wellness with creative, hands-on artistic expression that can provide stress relief in dealing with health traumas.
The eight-session program — open to eight people as well — is slated to begin in February and will run through March 2026 on Sunday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Applications will be accepted from Dec. 15 through Jan. 15.
“As I cared for my mother during her cancer treatments, the meditative practice while working with clay at Spark Pottery became my sanctuary,” Carol Geary, ceramic artist and Island Arts Council Board Member, said in a release. “I saw a need for such therapy through art for our community, and the Island Arts Council took it on as a priority project for 2026.”
Geary and professional art therapist Meg McGrew devised the program, supported by a Grassroots Arts Program grant from the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County. Stoked Restaurant in Carolina Beach also donated $4,000 from its second annual Ty Cobb King Mackerel Tournament to allow the Island Arts Council to host the program.
All materials will be supplied to participants. Learn more about the program here.
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