This past summer the Big Sur region was devastated by giant wildfires that consumed over 250,000 acres of pristine coastal wilderness, burned numerous homes and threatened the village of Big Sur where many local businesses are based. CHART's Director, Baxter Garcia, has a deep bond with this Central Coast area from growing up on the Monterey Peninsula and maintaining a family home there. In the aftermath of the fires, Dr. Garcia contacted Karen Blades, Director of BSAI and offered CHART's support in providing psychosocial resources to the recovery efforts.

Typically, following natural disasters of this magnitude, a percentage of children will be at risk for post-traumatic stress or related psychological and emotional disturbances. The situation in Big Sur is particularly acute due to the extreme risk of land- and mudslides from rainstorms that may arrive in winter. CHART and BSAI began planning to set up creative arts programming, with an art therapy component, for children in the community. This will take the form of an ongoing 'after-school' program and will be open to all children. As a first step towards the development of the new arts program, CHART and BSAI organized an Introduction to Art Therapy workshop - this 'train the trainers' workshop provided immersion in the techniques and theories of arts therapies to teachers, working artists, non-traditional therapists and healers and others from the Big Sur community who may become involved as facilitators in this program.

 About BSAI: Big Sur Arts Intiative seeks to preserve, support, and enhance the cultural life of the Big Sur community and is dedicated to providing children and youth of the Big Sur community with access to arts, education, and cultural opportunities. More information at : www.bigsurarts.org