Poet and therapeutic writing teacher, Melissa Greene, founded Write From the Heart creative writing workshops in 2002 as gentle, welcoming retreats for writers of all ages. “The classes illuminate the path to laughter, confidence and deeper self-understanding, and are a safe haven for experienced writers and first-timers alike, especially those who have always longed to write, but thought they couldn’t,” she says.

Greene understands how writing can be therapeutic when it is taught in an atmosphere of warmth, compassion and trust. Since 2014, she has led free workshops for cancer patients and their caregivers in collaboration with the Penn Medicine/Lancaster General Health Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, and also teaches for the McGlinn Cancer Institute at Reading Hospital and Breast Cancer Support Services of Berks County.

“The workshop is a place where we approach writing through poise, delicacy and precision of thought,” explains Greene. “Because it’s a cancer support writing workshop, some people think we’re going to direct everything toward the topic of cancer, but I always let people know that they can write about the cancer experience—or not. We’re also there to have a bit of fun. I think people find our workshops therapeutic in that we don’t focus directly on cancer. Patients tell me again and again that medicine, alone, is not enough. Writing, alone, is also not enough, but together they create a total healing picture.”

An Artistic, Aesthetic and Cultural Invitation

 Local artist Gracie Berry, whose work is on display at the Lancaster Amtrak Station at 53 McGovern Avenue, in Lancaster, created Shadowkeepers & Roothealers “The Original OG’s”, to serve as an invitation to those from all walks of life to go beyond what is simply in front of them.

She encourages viewers of her art to consider “going beyond the physical form and experience, beyond the call and response narrative. Beyond solutions. Beyond duality. To listen without ears. To see without eyes. To conceive that we are more alike than we are different despite how colonization tries to separate us,” believes Berry. “We exist. We are the space between the stars. We come from ancestors that never left us. We come from someplace.

“My creative process is divinely guided in the same way that my life’s work is. I study the gifts of Afro-futurism cultural aesthetic and Yoruba traditions and use them as tools to build high levels of autonomy in my work,” explains Berry. “Both disciplines inform core values and beliefs in my art and personal life. Both charge me with the lifelong task of creating social change, returning to my family of origin, community, identity, spirituality and to celebrate the Afrikan Diaspora around the globe.”

Public Art Inspires Community Engagement

 The public art of West Reading in Berks County is a vivid landscape that encourages residents and visitors alike to walk throughout the borough and experience the collaborative result of vision and talent. To take in the beauty of the 45 murals, a mural map and walking guide can be downloaded at VisitWestReading.com/Public-Art.

Dean Rohrbach, former manager of West Reading’s Elm Street Program, was instrumental in creating the murals of West Reading. Now named “Dean’s Way” in his memory, the collection of public art honors a man dedicated to bringing his vision of community to life.

 “Public art is important to a community,” said Rohrbach. “We like our public art to be serendipitously discovered as residents and visitors wander around West Reading. Public art adds vitality and liveliness to our community, and best of all, public art is freely accessible.”

These a just a few of the many ways art can be experienced throughout Berks and Lancaster counties. When we accept the invitation to experience art in our communities with hearts and eyes wide open, we experience the stories of ourselves.

For more information, visit GirlrillaVintage.com, VisitWestReading.com/Public-Art and WriteFromTheHeart.us.