Personal Power Workshop Series

Expressive Arts Workshop

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSFIELD, MA: The Walk Unafraid Foundation in collaboration with the Rites of Passage Project is pleased to announce a FREE 3-part expressive arts workshop series for women to engage in the healing power of art and self-empowerment. The workshops will be held in Downtown Pittsfield, at the Berkshire Museum and take place 10am-2pm on three consecutive Saturdays in July beginning July 10, 2021.

This is a unique workshop opportunity, as participants will be creating artwork that will be publicly exhibited in the RITES OF PASSAGE: 20/20 VISION project – a collaborative multimedia art & performance project celebrating the histories, rites of passage, and visionary futures of Black, Indigenous, and Immigrant (cis and trans) Women of Color in America. 

“Transforming trauma and reclaiming one’s own sense of agency is possible for anyone who wants to heal from sexual abuse,” states creative activist and Walk Unafraid Founder, Gabrielle Senza, herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

“Art has the power to heal at levels that go beyond the cognitive and the verbal. This project has the potential to be a powerful part of a person’s healing journey.”

The workshop series will be led in English by Gabrielle Senza. It is intended for all self-identified women who are ready to transform their pain into power. We particularly want to welcome women who might not typically have access to arts-based healing programs.

Workshop attendees will create artwork that will be exhibited in the “No Longer Silent” Room, cure-ated by interdisciplinary artist Juliet Olivier as part of the RITES OF PASSAGE: 20/20 VISION project on view at The Whitney Center for the Arts in Pittsfield, Massachusetts August 13-17, 2021. 

Because each workshop builds upon the previous one and results in works of art that will be publicly displayed, attendance for all three sessions is important. If needed, childcare will be provided. Participants will also receive a free ticket to the RITES OF PASSAGE: 20/20 VISION August 14th afternoon performance.

Space is limited. Please register early.

Registration deadline: July 5th, 2021 

Have questions?
Please email hello@walkunafraid.org with any questions.

GABRIELLE SENZA is an internationally recognized multidisciplinary artist focused on recognizing, acknowledging and healing trauma and investigating invisibility. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Walk Unafraid Foundation and has devoted her creative practice to addressing human rights and environmental issues for more than 30 years. Her work has been included in solo and traveling group shows throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA New York, Lifetime Entertainment, and numerous other corporate and private collections. She is happiest working out in the world where she can creatively engage with individuals in a variety of public and intimate spaces. Gabrielle seeks to make visible the invisible through multidisciplinary projects and to create opportunities for people to feel seen, heard, respected and connected. Currently, Gabrielle divides her time between Berlin and the Berkshires, focusing primarily on the phenomenon of invisibility. She was part of the first Rites of Passage in 2013, having cure-ated the room Hysteria, and is happy to be back as an artist and facilitator for collaborative community art-making as a tool for women’s healing. 

RITES OF PASSAGE: 20/20 VISION is a collaborative multimedia art & performance project celebrating the histories, rites of passage, and visionary futures of Black, Indigenous, and Immigrant (cis and trans) Women of Color in America. Set throughout 21 rooms of a historic mansion – the former Women’s Club of the Berkshires in Pittsfield, MA, each room is a living embodiment of a “rite of passage” in women’s lives between birth and death, and a reclamation of ancestral resilience & power. It will take place over 5 days from August 13-17, for a total of 10 live performances, and 1 live-streamed performance and will be co-created by 65+ badass BIPOC women and allies from all over the US.