Art and Dreams

Friend of Mae Skidmore, Laura Baran lost her beautiful brother Jeff to suicide and founded Arts & Dreams as an antidote to hopelessness. "I created Arts & Dreams workshops with my friend Patricia Geremia to inspire and empower children. We have since branched out to work with teens and adults as well. In an Arts & Dreams workshop we make art that encourages us to feel enthusiastic about our worth and our place in the world. I share my experience with depression and losing my brother Jeff to hopelessness in 2000. In his goodbye letter, Jeff wrote that it wasn’t the depression that felt the worst, it was the hopelessness. I wanted to prevent this from happening to others." This is a relevant post this week as the horrible tragedy in Connecticut is in all our hearts and thoughts.

An Arts & Dreams workshop is 2 hours of expressive art projects, partnered with meaningful discussion about how to love and accept yourself. They teach practical tools like affirmations, breathing exercises, and mirror work. And we make art - paintings, drawings, collage, and more. Tonight's Holiday Affirmation Painting Party was one of Arts and Dreams successful events. SMMS is proud to promote another female partnership. Please visit Art & Dreams' Blog for more information on upcoming events.

Laura Baran is an award-winning professional painter (Society of Illustrators, New York) who earned a BFA with honors from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She serves on the Board of Directors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - New York City Chapter.
Patricia Geremia is a certified Reiki healer and professional photographer, and an event planner and fundraiser. She completed coursework towards an undergraduate degree at Hunter College in New York and has served as a youth mentor in NYC since 1995.  Her line of photo greeting cards and prints is called PatriciaG Photos.