Gathering of Artists: Deb Kline’s “Arts as Alchemy: Forgetting to Remember Pieces of Me” – Ames Community Arts Council

The September Gathering of Artists, hosted by the Ames Community Arts Council with artist Deb Kline, will be held at the Gallery in the Round, located inside the Ames Unitarian Fellowship of Ames (1015 Hyland Ave.) on Tues., Sept. 17 from 6 – 8 p.m.

Artists and art enthusiasts of all types are invited to the Gatherings, where they can meet other artists, get feedback, get inspired, and have fun. The Gatherings are free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.

Creativity is alchemy. Arts as Alchemy exhibits give public visibility from one survivor to another that we are not alone. We can heal and thrive. And we can include public spaces as appropriate places to share our stories. Survivors include but are not limited to victims of child abuse, incest, rape, mental illness, and attempted suicide. This Arts as Alchemy exhibit features Deb Kline’s Forgetting to Remember Pieces of Me collage art.

Deb’s collage creations included in this exhibit visually depict her healing process—reclaiming lost pieces of her childhood shattered by trauma. She views the cut-and-paste method as apt for reassembling her life after buried memories from childhood resurfaced, even though that was not her original intent. Kline prescribes to the SoulCollage method, which focuses on the act of gazing inward and using intuition to select images that capture the inner essence without knowing what will be expressed – pictures communicate beyond words and are later journaled into meaning. In this intimate practice of self-exploration, the final product is never for sale – it was never about “creating art.” Kline later selected from her SoulCollage cards to create corresponding chapters of her memoir, Forgetting to Remember: A Healer’s Journey of Surviving and Thriving.

Deb’s exhibit will also feature three free community workshops. Visit the Gallery in the Round website for more information: https://uufames.org/gallery.

Deb’s work is on display through Fri., Sept. 27, and will close with a concert at 7 p.m. To celebrate her journey of surviving and thriving, Deb will perform her piano and guitar songs with ASL lyrics interpretation by Maranda Turner, interspersed with poetry, prose, and projected collage images. This concert is free, with donations accepted for NAMI Central Iowa, in honor of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

The monthly Gathering of Artists is hosted by the Ames Community Arts Council and made possible with the support of the City of Ames Commission on the Arts [COTA]. If you would like more information about participating in or hosting a gathering, please contact the Ames Community Arts Council by e-mailing info@amesart.org, visiting the website at www.amesart.org, or calling 515-259-0494.