Hi Everyone! My name is Suzy Mena. I was born and raised in New York. I love it here! I am a visual arts teacher, currently teaching middle school and one high school class in the Bronx. I really enjoy teaching art, it is so important, especially during these current times and social emotional learning. Art can be a very powerful tool in supporting our students’ social emotional learning. It can help to develop their self-confidence, self-expression, and encourage creativity. I appreciate how hard students work today, how eager they are to create art, and I’m fascinated by all the work my students create.
I personally grew up without art, I was never introduced to it as a child, so I began exploring art on my own, in 2015 and I fell in love with it. I enjoy creating collage works, and ceramics. I am a ceramics enthusiast, and working with clay is the most relaxing, calming and therapeutic way for me to spend my time. My goal is to have my own ceramics studio in the future.
My thesis project aims to find how participating in a ceramics class, or working with clay can benefit the well-being of the elderly community. I’m curious to know if those who have participated in a ceramics class or worked with clay, have seen a positive impact on their well-being. I have read some articles about the possible benefits to using clay as therapy for elderly people, and how it has improved their mental health and well-being. This research is not only for my thesis project, it is also personal for me, since I have been searching for ways to support my father, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I’m hoping to find ways to help my father cope with this disease.
There is plenty of research on this fascinating topic and I’m moved to learn more about it. Here are some interesting articles about this topic:
https://doi.org/10.5152/FNJN.2021.20224
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5888804/
These are a few images of some of my ceramic works:
