ABOUT SUSAN

Member of the Statewide Advisory Committee on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities (Sponsored by CT Commission on Culture & Tourism and VSA Arts/ Young Audiences of Connecticut)

Award winning artist, Susan E. Rosano, has a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University , a certificate in Pastoral Counseling and a specialty in Expressive Arts. She is an Arts in Education Teaching Artist with the State of Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and Young Audiences of CT. Her areas of expertise include visual and studio arts to create community arts projects in schools, museums, libraries, festivals and other types of communities throughout Connecticut . Some of Susan’s projects include recycled “Oil Drum Painting,” “Pique Assiette” mosaics using broken dishes, ceramics, glass and other recycled materials as mosaic tiles, “Junk Man Sculptures” using recycled materials, “Art and Archeology” paper mache and other multi-media projects related to ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece and other cultures. Susan works part time with Connecticut VNA Partner’s Hospice, bringing visual arts and poetry programs to terminally ill patients to creating projects related to personal history for the purpose of emotional expression. Susan also works with many different special needs groups bringing Expressive Arts education, consultation and arts projects throughout the state.

Expressive arts uses various arts - dance & movement, drawing, painting, music, poetry, puppetry, sound and meditation - in a supportive setting to facilitate growth and healing.  It is a process of discovering ourselves through any art form that comes from an emotional depth.  When using the arts for self-healing, we are not concerned with the beauty of the visual art, the grammar and style of writing, or the harmonic flow of a song.  We use the arts to let go, to express and to release.  The use of imagery and non-verbal modes allows the participant an alternate path for self-exploration and communication.  The arts are potent media in which to discover, experience and accept unknown aspects of the self. 

For further information or to book a class, please Email Susan at: ctexpressivearts@aol.com  or call Susan at 860-301-9033 in Cromwell, CT

EDUCATION

  Wesleyan University, CT - Master of Arts in Liberal Studies; Concentration: Art   

St. Francis Academy , CT – Certificate in Pastoral Counseling                                       

Charter Oak State College , CT – BA in Art / Minor Psychology

Art Institute of Boston , MA – Fine Arts Program

WORK EXPERIENCE

Expressive Arts Specialist - Connecticut VNA’s Hospice, Wallingford , - March 2004 to present.  Program director and member of the counseling team; create, develop and implement visual art projects, poetry & programs with terminally ill children, adults, seniors and their families; curate art exhibit; marketing hospice to community

Teaching Artist - Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism,   Hartford - May 2005 to present. Arts in Education Teaching Artist, developing and teaching visual arts programs throughout the state in schools, libraries, museums, nature centers, etc.

Teaching Artist - Young Audiences of Connecticut, Hamden - August 2005 to present. Arts in Education Teaching Artist, developing and teaching visual arts programs throughout the state in schools, libraries, museums, nature centers, etc.

Expressive Arts Specialist - CT Expressive Arts, Cromwell - May 2000 to present.    Business owner of CT Expressive Arts providing expressive arts therapy, studio art classes in mosaics, commissioned mosaic works, multimedia visual arts projects for children, adults, and seniors, personal history projects and expressive arts consultation.

Expressive Arts Specialist - The Kennedy Center , Bridgeport , May 2003 to March 2004.  Counseling team member to provide visual arts classes, dance therapy and poetry facilitation for groups and individuals with developmental disabilities.

Editor, PATH (Parents Available to Help) quarterly newsletter, January 2001 - present.  Newsletter for parents of children with special needs distributed throughout Connecticut .

Staff Correspondent & Photographer, Cromwell Chronicle, Rocky Hill 1997 to 2002 Middletown Press, Middletown 1999 - 2001 - for “Women’s Section" Home Town Journal, East Haddam  1997 – 1999

Assistant to the Town Planner, Town of Haddam , Haddam, September 1991 – 1997   Coordinator of Land Use Commissions, assisted with grant writing

VISUAL ARTS EXPERIENCE

Curator - Completing the Journey: The Art of Hospice Care - Curator of traveling art show of works done by, for and about terminally ill patients, sponsored by Masonicare, a Connecticut Home Healthcare Corporation.

Visual Arts  - Working in fine art painting with watercolors; pastels; acrylics; drawing with charcoal and graphite; mosaics; multi-media sculpture.

Exhibitions - Exhibit and sell paintings, mosaics, multimedia art projects, and commissioned pieces throughout Connecticut .

Gallery exhibits -   ArtSpace, Hartford; Guilford Art Center, Guilford; Windham Art Gallery, Ursula Gallery, Middletown; NOMA Art Gallery, Middletown; Art Works, New Haven; Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT; City Wide Open Studios, New Haven; Middletown Art Guild, Haddam Art League, Republic Art Outdoor Art Exhibits, Willimantic; Winvian Hotel and Conference Center, Litchfield; Mercy Center, Madison; St. Francis Hospital and many other libraries, banks, store fronts, and private art galleries, in Connecticut.

Teaching - Mosaic classes, acrylic painting, found object sculpture, pastel drawing, beginning drawing, expressive drawing

HONORS and AWARDS

Winner of Guilford Arts Center Achievement Award 2006 Year of the Child  was presented to me as an individual who excels in teaching visual arts to improve or enhance the quality of life of children who are emotionally, physically or mentally challenged.

D'Amato Award for Graduate Studies -   Charter Oak State College, May 2002.  Received the annual award to a Charter Oak alumna actively pursuing a graduate degree and demonstrating serious scholarship, a commitment to learning and a commitment to community service.  

Arts for People with Disabilities Forum on Careers – invited to be an Advisory Board member by the State of CT Commission on Culture and Tourism, to plan and conduct a Forum on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities in the State of Connecticut starting in January of 2008.

EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL

Semester At Sea  University of Pittsburgh , Spring 2005 Voyage – Traveled Kenya , South Africa, Brazil & Venezuela with 650 college students, 100 faculty, staff and crew.  Participated in the teaching and study of art, music & dance of Africa and South America , as well as taught an educational seminar on the use of the arts with hospice, while on this educational journey. Studied the art of other countries such as Trinidad & Tobago , Mexico , Canada , Italy , and US Virgin Islands.

Conference Presentation and Speaking Experience 2000 – 2008:

“Together We Will” Conference 2008 in Cromwell, CT for State of CT Education Resource Center  - presenting a 90 minute workshop on Expressive Arts for Children with Special Needs

Association of Personal Historians National Conference 2008 in Nashville , Tennessee - Presenting a 90 minute workshop on personal history poems and hospice care

Institute for Community Research International Conference 2007 - Speaker on panel for The Arts and Healthcare talking about using poetry with terminally ill patients

Exploring Possibilities - The Art of Inclusion - Conference Speaker 2007 & 2006 on developing arts programs for children with special needs

Yale New Haven Children's Hospital 2007 - Consultant to Yale's Expressive Arts Children's Program; Child Life Staff in-service on expressive arts; Worked with individual patients and in clinics

Guilford Arts Center 2006 Achievement Awards – Speaker at award ceremony on using poetry and art  with children with terminal illness and special needs

CT Coalition to Improve End of Life Care Conference 2006 - Speaker on using expressive arts and poetry with terminally ill children  

Parents Available to Help Gala 2006 - Speaker as PATH Honoree at the 2006 Gala Banquet

Village for Families and Children 2006 - Speaking engagement & staff training in dance therapy and expressive poetry

St. Vincent’s Hospital Special Needs Services Conference 2006 - Speaker for conference regarding children with gastrostomy tubes - talk entitled “Creative Meal Times”

Higher Order Thinking Schools Conference 2006 - Speaker on a panel regarding using the arts with children with special needs

Connecticut Association of Physical Education, Health, Recreation & Dance 2005 Conference – presentation on Expressive Dance

Poetry Readings & Classes

CT Children’s Medical Center , Hartford , CT – Poetry project with patients and their families

Yale Children’s Medical Center , New Haven , CT – Poetry project with patients and their families

Day Away Conference, CT VNA Hospice, Madison , CT – Read poetry and taught expressive poetry class

Mercy Center , Madison , CT – “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

ArtSpace, Hartford , CT - “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

Windham Arts, Willimantic , CT - “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

NOMA Gallery, Middletown , CT - “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of  expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

St. Francis Hospital , Hartford , CT - “Poems from Hospice”  - poetry reading of  expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

Community Art Projects

Town of Brookfield, CT – Oil Drum Painting Project for town Memorial Day parade; public invited to paint designs on recycled oil drums to be used as recycling containers in Brookfield parks.

Feet to the Fire Festival, Middletown , CT – Oil Drum Painting Project for an environmental festival sponsored by Wesleyan University in Middletown , CT ; public invited to paint designs on recycled oil drums to be used as recycling containers in Veterans Memorial Park , Middletown , CT.

Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism HOT Schools Conference, Hartford , CT – Oil Drum Painting Project for Higher Order Thinking Schools 2008 annual conference

Earth Place – Earth Day festival creating “Junk People” with the public; Junk people made from recycled everyday junk

MARC Community Resources – Oil Drum Painting Project with developmentally disabled adults; painting environmental art on recycled oil drums

Lyme Consolidated School – Oil Drum Painting Project – elementary school-wide project with recycled oil drums painting eco-systems for Earth Day

Brundage Library – Self Expression through Dance for Families – fun expressive dance program

Ridge Hill Elementary School – Oil Drum Painting Project – elementary school-wide project with recycled oil drums painting eco-systems of CT

Harry M. Bailey Middle School Inter-district Camp -Oil Drum Painting Project – Middle school camp project with recycled oil drums painting eco-systems and environmental themes

Mill River Park , Stamford , CT - Oil Drum Painting Project  - Community project with recycled oil drums painting scenes of community

Keefe Community Center , Hamden , CT - Community project with recycled oil drums painting scenes of community