HIGHLAND HILLS – Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Eastern Campus Art Therapy Instructor Mary Sender donated her photography to the Healing Arts for Haiti Online Art Sale, a fundraising event sponsored by the Buckeye Art Therapy Association (BATA), to benefit Haiti earthquake relief efforts. The sale, which began on April 15 and will continue through August 15 on the blog batahaitirelief.wordpress.com, will be open to the public to purchase art submitted. Art work ranges in price from $10 to $50 and the donating artist pays for all shipping costs. Proceeds from BATA’s art sale will be donated to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund at www.clintonbushhaitifund.org.

Sender donated three 8x10 photographs titled “Sunrise,” “Go with the Flow” and “Rejuvenation.” Three copies of each photo are available for purchase at $50 each. “I think it’s a very worthwhile cause,” said Sender. “The donated artwork will hopefully go a long way to help the people in Haiti who are less fortunate than us.”

BATA is a non-profit professional association for art therapists, students and individuals who support the therapeutic use of art and the advancement of the art therapy field. Art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. BATA is one of the oldest, largest and most active state art therapy associations in the country, and is an affiliate chapter of The American Art Therapy Association (AATA). Numerous medical, mental health, hospice, corrections and educational institutions across Ohio employ art therapists in the service of the well-being of their clients.  In 2009, over one million hours of service was provided by art therapists in Ohio to mental health consumers.

Tri-C’s art therapy program started in 2006 with just 35 students. Today, thee are more than 275 students enrolled in the program. Students have the option of earning an art therapy certificate after completing 12 specified courses. The program is part of Tri-C’s Creative Arts Department. For more information about Tri-C’s Art Therapy Program, contact Mary Sender at Mary.Sender@tri-c.edu or (216) 987-2475.


For more information or inquiries about BATA’s Healing Arts for Haiti Online Art Sale, contact Sara Jankowski at sadiejay70@hotmail.com. To learn more about BATA, as well as resources about the benefits of art therapy related to helping with Haiti’s needs, please visit www.buckeyearttherapy.org.