Growing Through It®

June 2009
GTI NEWS UPDATE

Since September 2008 I am the art teacher at the Lighthouse School in North Bend, Oregon.
We are a Waldorf-Inspired Public Charter School.
I entered 93 pieces of art for the National Call for the All Kids Can Create... Exhibit.

Billie Brown, Lighthouse Third Grader was selected as the Oregon Represenative for the All Kids Can Create...two-year National Exhibit.
See entire exhibit by clicking the image.

"Words. My Words." Ink prints on paper VSA arts of Americal Collection March 2009 17" x 26"

In March of this year, a total of 93 students from both schools were entered in a National Art Competition, All Kids Can Create, sponsored by VSA arts and CVS Pharmacy.
One student from each of our two schools were first selected as the top two state contestants. Billie Brown, Lighthouse Third Grader, was then chosen as the final winner to represent the state of Oregon for a two-year National Tour.
The first showing will be at Union Station in Washington, D.C, from June 1st ? 21st, 2009.

GTI completed our second successful year in Oregons' Coos Bay area.

Five Collaborative Art PIeces have been created by 55 people.

Individual art pieces were created by seventeen people during two different GTI sessions. These new artists tried their hands and hearts at expressing themselves - and they did a great job.

New friendships were also forged, we had great local media exposure and, best of all, we had lots of fun!

2009 will move a bit slower as Bittin is currently the Art Teacher at a local Public Charter School, the Lighthouse School in Hauser.

he Lighthouse School in Hauser, Oregon.

It is a great opportunity for me to learn more about teaching and classroom management.

As my children are school-age, I feel confident that this is where I need to focus my attention for a while. GTI will still conduct workshops in the summer months, as this is my life passion.

Keep your eyes, ears mind and heart open!

Our 2007 projects were presented to the community
at the Black Market Gourmet venue on February 14th.

The celebration was a great success!

“Imagination Behind the System,"
was complete by Destinations Academy students
at the Harding Learning Center in Coos Bay, Oregon.

The Harding Learning Center makes a stand for students
and are committed to
EDUCATION FOR ALL - WHATEVER IT TAKES!

Our first local piece, Honoring Our Lives,
was conducted at the Shama House in North Bend.

Shama House is a place of empowerment for adults with mental illness.

The SHAMA workshop was funded in part by the Zonta Club of the Coos Bay Area of Oregon. All workshop were funded by the Coos County Cultural Coalition, Three Swallows Foundation and Beloved Patrons.
"Growing Through Circumstances in Coos County"

** I worked primarily with community members labeled as "disenfranchised youth". (Special attention has been given to protect the anonymity of all participants).

**Please explore the Workshop Gallery to witness the hundreds of people who have created intimate truths about their lives regarding each Workshop Theme.

Since 1993, 55 art pieces have been created. The workshop has been welcomed in eleven states nationwide - including Maine, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Montana, Oregon, Colorado, Washington and the District of Columbia.

GTI's Business Values will aprise you to our committments to those we serve.

The GTI Vision is to provide new opportunities for people to express themselves through creative process.

GTI services are currently expanding so that its possibilities will be available to larger national audiences.

The GTI Facilitator Training Seminar will train professionals and artists so that they can lead others through the dynamic GTI art workshop process. More people recovering from TBI can improve the quality of their life by creating an Individual or Collaborative Art Piece.

Private Consultation is available by appointment!

Bittin has a profound understanding of living after sustaining a traumatic brain injury and using creativity to improve outcomes. She assists others with inner and outer self-expressions to facilitate healing and growth.

Bittin's education and intimate comprehension of trauma qualifies her to speak to a wide variety of audiences concerning brain trauma, artistic process, healing and growth and related topics. Visit the Presentation section to request her services. She has been sharing her creative approaches Nationwide since 1993 and plans to for many years to come!

See Bittins' resume to learn of her educational and professional accomplishments.

All GTI services are suitable for people with and without disAbilities.

"Honoring Trees of Life - a painting which honors all who have sustained brain trauma from any source, at any age and have made a conscious choice to overcome their difficulities and grow through it..." mixed media on paper, 12 panels Private Collection - 3.5" x 6" copies available November 1995 3' x 6'

1996 National Brain Injury Symposium; Dallas, Texas - Poster Presentation

• First Place Non-Research - Judges Choice
• First Place Non-Research - Peoples Choice

~ Growing Through It Honoring Trees~

• tree bark is created with the names of participants
• photographs in branches depict major steps of workshop process
• hanging leaves documents completed art piece by title, date & location

"My lastest passions..." The North Bay and Lighthouse Schools Human Sundial (and Naia and Sinead) Hauser, Oregon May 2008 26' diameter

In February 2009, we began The North Bay and Lighthouse Schools Garden Enhancement Project, a grant-funded opportunity designed for students to co-create a 25-foot Human Sundial in our Inter-School Garden with other learning elements embedded. Groups of students have worked to set 40 concrete stepping-stones with the months and numbers to indicate correct sun-time with both Arabic and Roman Numerals. Another 80 stones display clock time, military time, Chinese Years, geometric designs, constellations and free designs. All 120+ stepping-stones are created by a specific combination of pebbles, stones, marbles, ceramic creations, tiles and pottery chards. This is this first time the North Bay School has had consistent, weekly arts instruction in many years.

The GTI Recovery Methods meet an increasing need for a wholistic approach towards recovery and personal growth in todays world.

Utilizing wholistic methods to bring words and forms which have arised from group members, Direct Art Workshop Facilitation is currently available. The workshop process uses empowering methods that focus on qualitative emotional components of recovery that are essential to express and explore for re-creating a.whole sense of self.

Offered in a flexible format, members are given an opportunity to re-create a positive sense of self in context of adversity as they co-create a collaborative art piece that reflects individual and collective "truths".

GTI Art Pieces enliven a natural tendency of humings* to be their inner truth of self-love and respect.

The GTI art workshop has proven to increase self-esteem and communication abilities for hundreds of participants nationwide. Both short and long-term results have been positive and inspiring - see our testimonials page!

And read Accolades for Growing Through It that professional have written about their satisfaction with the Art Workshop recevery method!

"PossAbilities Art Exhibit logo" water media and pen on paper Artist's Collection - full size copies available October 1999 14" x 14"

Inspired to heal and grow herself in 1989, Duggan used her previous artistic talents to express her transformative healing process. Exhibiting a "Before, During and After" art exhibit Tree to Tree: Recovery Transformation across the nation inspired others, which, in turn, inspired Bittin to share the GTI Art Workshop with others living with similar life circumstances.

Breaking Boundaries is a ten-panel, three-dimensional, journal-laden oil collage that created itself through me in 1991. This section exhibits various view of the art pieces as well as the journal writings in full detail. The art piece was first exhibited at my Bachelor's of Fine Arts Graduation Art Show at the University of Colorado at Boulder, December 13, 1991.

GTI has received appreciated funds from The Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation, Three Swallows Foundation and other generous private donations from 2002 to 2004.

We are tremendously grateful for their support and belief in GTI, as well as for the sponsorship from Oregon Cultural Access (ORCA) for project development.

"Director Duggan presenting at BIA of Montana Conference" Photograph Bozeman, MT September 2001 Presentation

*Humings (coined by Blythe Pelham. morphed word from "human being." "The meaning is basically the same, though with the gender lifted out. The pronunciation is with a long "u" sound (rhymes with fuming), and it's a lot of fun to say!)"