More Than Memory Boxes: Finding Connection Through Creative Grief Support

Through our Art of Grief series, Hospicare offers free creative workshops that help community members process loss, honor the people they've loved, and find connection with others walking a similar path.

Last fall, a group gathered at a local pottery studio for our “Clay for the Healing Heart” workshop. Over the course of an afternoon, participants created memory boxes, small clay vessels designed to hold mementos of the people they'd lost. The instructor guided them through construction techniques, but the designs came entirely from the heart.

Teresa shaped flowers into the lid of her box, a tribute to her mother's faith and the prayers they had shared. "My mom's faith in prayer, including to my patron saint, Teresa the Little Flower, has held significance throughout both of our lives," she explained.

Michelle let intuition guide her hands, experimenting with tools and textures to create something that reflected her mother's unique style. "I wanted to try all the 'things,” she said. "What also influenced the design was looking around the room at what everyone was doing with their projects."

"You don't need experience with art to participate," Teresa noted. "The instructor walked us through construction and was encouraging with our designs. Each participant created something lovely and unique to them."

What surprised many participants wasn't just what they made; it was who they met. "What strikes me as most memorable was the sense of connection with the loved one I lost and to those who were there too, with their memories and love for theirs," Michelle shared. "There was something deeply healing and profound about working in quietness and in tandem with one another."

Shasta, who discovered the class online, reflected on how creative expression gave her grief somewhere to go. "One opposite of loss is expression, even though it can feel really hard to access sometimes," she said. "Grief can feel a lot of things, including heavy. And creating can allow for a little lightness."

“Clay for the Healing Heart” is just one offering in Hospicare's bereavement and expressive arts program. Past workshops have included watercolor painting, creative writing, and movement and dance. Each workshop offers a safe, supportive space to honor your grief, and the person you're grieving, in the company of others who understand.

This programming exists because of a community that believes no one should carry grief alone.

"I feel blessed I live so close to Hospicare and have the organization in my community," Michelle said. "I could not have made it through much of this alone. And I haven't."

The Art of Grief series will continue in the fall, but our bereavement team offers several other programs to the community, including a new Walking with Grief series.

To learn more about upcoming workshops and Hospicare's bereavement programs, visit hospicare.org or call 607-272-0212. All programs are free and open to community members, whether or not your loved one was in our care.