ABSTRACT
Rozsika Parker (1984), in her book The Subversive Stitch, argued that the craft of needlework, embroidery, knitting, and crocheting, were cast out of the artistic cannon for being a gendered form of practice. Since then, artists and cultural workers have embraced so-called “feminine” work to reposition domesticity and gender (Robertson, 2011, p. 184). In similar ways, art therapy pioneers have had a conflicted relationship with craft practices. In the U.S. Ulman et al. (1977) viewed craft as a form of perfectionism. For them, true art therapy was about self-confrontation and the patient’s ability to engage in self-exploration to induce regression and to tolerate compulsive defenses. Kramer (1966) wrote at length about the difference between art therapy, arts, and crafts. She advocated for a separation between the two, arguing that the “art” in art therapy was much more demanding and challenging process than some form of repetitive process related to a product.
While the debate in art therapy continues over establishing boundaries between art, craft, or what constitutes authentic art therapy (Moon, 2010), several art therapists have advocated for broadening the scope of art therapy practice (Houpt, 2016; Ottermiller & Awais, 2016; Bucciarelli, 2016; Talwar, 2015; among others). Drawing on feminist a model (Hogan, 1997), art therapists are increasingly focusing on health and wellness and incorporating craft. Although the goal of art therapy at its inception was, according to some definitions, to uncover “symbolic language” and tap into the unconscious (Ulman, 1975), contemporary art therapists are repositioning their approaches to ones that are critical and culturally sensitive, especially when engaging with underprivileged communities (Talwar, 2015). This approach to practice values the role of art production to promote wellness and advocates for economic and social justice.
In this chapter, I examine the concept of “work” and its therapeutic value. I argue for the practice of crafting as a form of feminist pedagogy, a strategy to disturb the status quo and reclaim gendered labor practices that had been devalued in art therapy. The chapter ends with the example of the CEW (Creatively Empowered Women) Design Studio In Chicago in order to broaden the scope of art therapy practice that works to promote gender, economic, and social justice.
