In 2018, Premier Arts Collective began a relationship with Casa de la Creatividad, located in Cozumel, Mexico. Casa de la Creatividad (“House of Creativity”) is a choice-based art studio that offers open art exploration time to local, underserved children as well as a metal studio and drumming workshop. PAC artist Jared Emerson has performed for the children at Casa de la Creatividad on different occasions, even having them participate in an interactive painting experience, collectively painting Albert Einstein as a mural on an exterior wall.
Casa de la Creatividad’s founder, Anita Yeh Norrie, is a PAC instructor with a master’s degree in art therapy. She has seen more than 108 child visits per week in just the 16 hours that the studio is open! According to Norrie,
“Art that is created and inspired by the artist’s own experiences enhances authenticity and growth as an individual. Choice-based art making decreases comparisons to others, and a nurturing community evolves. The studio is a refuge from everyday stresses of poverty and a place of opportunity.”
Anita has witnessed first-hand how the children in Cozumel seek out the art studio as a safe place to grow and explore, a place where their dreams can be realized, if only for a few moments each week.