Adults with special needs will have access to yoga, meditation, origami and other activities through Germantown Performing Arts Center’s Creative Arts Ensemble (CAE) summer program.
The arts and movement-based program is designed to help adults with special needs fine tune their dexterity and social skills.
Emily Hefley is the programming director for GPAC and a former adjunct dance composition and jazz technique instructor at the University of Memphis.
Hefley co-founded the program at GPAC in 2021 and held the first CAE that same year.
“The idea for Creative Arts Ensemble came from my friend Jennifer who works at GPAC part-time and The Madonna Learning Center part-time,” Hefley said. “Her observation was there were a lot of opportunities and programs for children with special needs but there aren’t many opportunities left as children become adults and age out of those programs.”
Hefley said her own background in arts education combined with her colleague’s background in special education and yoga was the ideal formula to bring the program to fruition.
“I feel really strongly that we want to give adults with special needs the opportunity to learn self-confidence and stimulate their artistic talents at the same time,” Hefley said. “Building self-confidence through self-expression. We feel those go hand-in-hand.”
Hefley added that while gaining a sense of independence and self-confidence is one of the program’s goals, each student’s individual needs will always be accommodated.
“None of the students need a personal assistant with them but some get tired so we make adjustments,” Hefley said. “If they need to sit in a chair while they stretch or do yoga, for example, we can make that accommodation for them so they can enjoy what they’re doing.”
Jennifer King is the education assistant at GPAC and teaches dance, music and yoga at The Madonna Learning Center. She helped co-found CAE with Hefley in 2021.
King said she realized the delicate importance of having the appropriate programs ready and in place when she worked as a personal assistant to a 26-year-old adult with special needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He didn’t have access to his bowling program or basketball program and the lack of social interaction really negatively affected him,” King said. “It was painful to see but it taught me how much good these programs can do. Adults with special needs require age-appropriate activities.”
King added that her specific inclusion of dance and movement in the program allows some of her non-verbal students to express themselves while also gaining a better self-confidence.
“I have witnessed shy young adults with special needs literally come out of their shells,” King said. “Movement increases self-esteem and confidence while promoting physical fitness because motor skills and coordination are sharpened.
“One participant just observed the dance classes for the first couple of days at the 2021 conservatory, but by the end of the week they were smiling and fully participating.”
Angi Cooper is an artist and teacher based out of Olive Branch. A self-taught practitioner of origami, Cooper has been a featured artist and art teacher at GPAC for more than 10 years and will lead the papermaking portion of the CAE.
After holding a paper-art camp for children at GPAC last summer, Cooper realized the deep impact the intricate nature of the origami craft made on her students and was asked to join this year’s program.
“I became very interested in the art form initially as a way to teach children about geometry, but I realized it could do much more,” Cooper said. “Origami is a wonderful art form to teach patience and craftsmanship to others because the folds can get quite complex.”
Cooper said that for adults with special needs in particular, the ornate paper folding helps develop better concentration and a more able sense of hands-on focus.
“Origami is great for practicing dexterity and using your hands,” Cooper said. “There’s folding, pressing and smoothing, lifting different parts which requires some delicacy, matching corners and edges for precision, being able to interpret patterns. It will all be great for our adults to really sharpen their artistic and concentration skills in a careful way.”
While CAE is designed to expose and nurture adults with special needs to artistic self-expression, Cooper noted that the program is not meant to be a contest but rather a community of creativity.
“There is no pressure and this is not performance-based,” Cooper said. “We want everyone to feel confident that the arts are for them whether they can do a perfect dance move or create a perfect work of art. It’s not about that perfection; it’s really about the process.”
Creative Arts Ensemble will be held July 18-29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at GPAC. Cost is $400 for the full session or $200 for one week. For more information or to register, click here.