JEWELL SINGLETARY
2021-22 COMMUNITY CONVENING COHORT PARTNER
CLAIMING THE VISUAL NARRATIVE - NEWARK PUBLIC ARTS PROJECT
CLAIMING THE VISUAL NARRATIVE - NEWARK PUBLIC ARTS PROJECT
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Jewell Singletary is a creative entrepreneur, educator, and multidisciplinary artist. She is the founding owner of Gratitude Griot, a trauma-informed well-being-based business, a documentarian filmmaker, and host of Yoga Wit the Ohmies Podcast, a free community resource in which we center Black and Brown professionals that work in mental health and holistic wellness fields.
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Prior to COVID, we taught yoga, meditation, and therapeutic art classes at Arts and American History High Schools in Newark. We have serviced the youth of West Kinney Community Garden and Emmanuel Church of Christ in the Central Ward. Prior to the pandemic, we offered free yoga and therapeutic art classes to the Giving 1/10 Community Garden, a non-profit garden located in the South Ward. Giving 1/10 donates 80% of the food they grow to the local community. We pivoted to offer our services online in response to COVID closures limiting access to our clientele; this pivot helped us to acquire a new contract with Newark First Friday’s to therapeutic art classes to their digital community. I expanded that offering in 2021 and now teach additional therapeutic art classes for Newark Center for Meditative Culture and NJIT pre-college program.Newark has been one of the cities hit the hardest by the pandemic. Our residents need access to tangible tools to reduce chronic stress and improve their mental health. The work that I do empowers vulnerable individuals, communities, and the workforce to embrace lifestyle changes to regulate their emotions, reduce chronic stress and pain to increase their overall sense of well-being.
I currently teach two separate virtual therapeutic art series for Newark First Fridays and Newark Center for Meditative Culture. These series are an experiential learning format and are designed to facilitate self-exploration through creative meditation. Each class consists of gentle stretches, meditation, and an art journaling activity. This summer I am also teaching part-time through NJIT's Pre-College Program. I am working with 8th-11th graders from Newark teaching yoga and therapeutic art classes.I've lived in Newark since 2017 and use to visit my grandfather in the summers when he lived here in the 1990s. I've always felt connected to Newark; this community is my home. I see many native residents hurting. I think we can be doing much better as a collective to provide and distribute the resources that help uplift people as a collective. I try to be a source of healing and impactful change.I would like to contribute to any painting that is required. I can also help edit videos.I currently use Wondershare Filmora Pro video editing tools, but I have been accepted into Adobe Creator Camp this summer, so by August I will be fully trained on all Adobe tools including premiere pro and photoshop. To date, I have recorded and edited over 200 wellness videos and taught 20 therapeutic art classes to children ages 4+, teenagers, and adults.
I currently teach two separate virtual therapeutic art series for Newark First Fridays and Newark Center for Meditative Culture. These series are an experiential learning format and are designed to facilitate self-exploration through creative meditation. Each class consists of gentle stretches, meditation, and an art journaling activity. This summer I am also teaching part-time through NJIT's Pre-College Program. I am working with 8th-11th graders from Newark teaching yoga and therapeutic art classes.I've lived in Newark since 2017 and use to visit my grandfather in the summers when he lived here in the 1990s. I've always felt connected to Newark; this community is my home. I see many native residents hurting. I think we can be doing much better as a collective to provide and distribute the resources that help uplift people as a collective. I try to be a source of healing and impactful change.I would like to contribute to any painting that is required. I can also help edit videos.I currently use Wondershare Filmora Pro video editing tools, but I have been accepted into Adobe Creator Camp this summer, so by August I will be fully trained on all Adobe tools including premiere pro and photoshop. To date, I have recorded and edited over 200 wellness videos and taught 20 therapeutic art classes to children ages 4+, teenagers, and adults.
