Hello everyone! Autumn has arrived, and we love it! We wanted to check in since this crazy year has blown by in a blur, and it’s already November! We want you to know that WE ARE STILL HERE! It’s been a hard year for us all, and we feel the need more than ever to stay connected. 

As we all know, back in March everything changed. With COVID-19, we suddenly had to cancel our in-person Healing Art Groups that we offered for free every month at Baptist Health Downtown, Keiser University, and Vagabond Coffee in Murray Hill. The fundraising events we planned were indefinitely postponed, and everything shut down.

Even as some restrictions have lifted and things have slowly started to get back to “normal”, the I Still Matter team has been unable to reconvene our Healing Art Groups due to location availability and the health concerns of our team members. We’ve been forced to rethink our model and consider what things will look like with this “new normal” going forward. At this time, we are unable to continue in the same way we have in the past. 

Now we look to the future and the changes we can make to continue with our mission to provide peer support and foster mental and emotional healing through art and creative expression. 

Check out The Monday Art Project on our social media pages for weekly art prompts to promote creativity. We encourage you to be creative in whichever art form speaks to you. Maybe you’re a dancer, baker, gardener, builder, or songwriter – we welcome any creative outlet that is helpful to your mental and emotional health.
We’ve been blown away by the amazing creations you have shared with us and we wanted to share some with you. We post a new prompt every Monday. Share your creations with us by using hashtag #themondayartproject.

Starting November 18th at 7pm, we will be offering a free virtual Healing Art Group called “Pen & Paper” every 3rd Wednesday of the month. As the name implies, these groups will offer healing art activities that use only a pen and paper. We understand that not everyone has art supplies at home, so it’s important for us to offer something that is accessible to anyone. 

Our first Pen & Paper group is “Letting Go & Letting it Flow”, a meditative art project that is calming for anyone struggling with anxiety or just in need of a peaceful, creative moment.

Check out our Facebook event page or click here to register.

We are so excited for this new group, and we hope to continue our outreach not only in our local community here in Jacksonville, Florida, but in a broader sense to our community online and around the world.

We hope you are well and look forward to reconnecting with you soon!

The I Still Matter Team❤️