2017 Molly ockett day Artwork by Arla Patch
Theme: "Communties with Heart"
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The theme this year comes out of a movement in community development called “Community Heart and Soul.” It is a process being used throughout the country and a local chapter “Mahoosuc Heart and Soul” has been created. The stones represent the first step in development: “laying a foundation.” Another step is to identify “shared community beliefs.” For the 60th anniversary of the celebration an Abanaki woman, Molly Ockett, it confirms the community’s respect and valuing of this indigenous woman and all she stood for. Although she died in 1816, the local people never forgot her value, character and healing abilities.
In recognition of the First Peoples who lived in the Bethel Area and were pushed out by the settlers, there is a turtle for Turtle Island, a rainbow trout that sustained Native communities, local medicinal plants, and an eagle feather central to Native ceremony. The image also represents the deep connection to nature that needs protection and sustains both Native and Non-Native communities today. The outer band is the night sky with stars, a “blanket” surrounding us, present both day and night.
In recognition of the First Peoples who lived in the Bethel Area and were pushed out by the settlers, there is a turtle for Turtle Island, a rainbow trout that sustained Native communities, local medicinal plants, and an eagle feather central to Native ceremony. The image also represents the deep connection to nature that needs protection and sustains both Native and Non-Native communities today. The outer band is the night sky with stars, a “blanket” surrounding us, present both day and night.
About Arla Patch
Arla Patch, BFA, Ed., MFA, is an artist, writer and “creativity midwife.” Using art as a tool for healing and personal transformation, she has facilitated many groups and individuals over her 40 plus year career. These have included cancer survivors, at-risk teens and those recovering from sexual abuse, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
Arla grew up in Doylestown, PA and has moved back “home” after leaving as a teenager and living in Maine for thirty years.
She has taught art in both the public and private sectors. This includes the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, her private art program Explorations, as an artist-in-residence, at Guilford, Goddard and Emmanuel Colleges, Universities of New England, Maine and Delaware, at therapeutic academies for troubled teens, working one on one with individual clients, and at numerous conferences and workshops, including in Thailand and Taiwan. Her interest in healing has also included teaching incarcerated women in Maine and Washington State and incarcerated youth in Philadelphia with the CLAYMOBILE.
Arla went through the Central Bucks Schools until her senior year when her family moved to Southeast Asia. She graduated from high school in Bangkok, Thailand, studied at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA and Rome, Italy, and did her graduate work at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. She is the author of two award-winning books: A Body Story and Finding Ground: Girls and Women in Recovery. These are available by contacting her.
Her interest in healing has also led to her involvement with the first truth and reconciliation commission in the United States for what happened to Indigenous children in the child welfare system, the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She is continuing to work on Indigenous rights education here in Pennsylvania and gives a talk about our shared history with Native peoples.
Arla grew up in Doylestown, PA and has moved back “home” after leaving as a teenager and living in Maine for thirty years.
She has taught art in both the public and private sectors. This includes the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, her private art program Explorations, as an artist-in-residence, at Guilford, Goddard and Emmanuel Colleges, Universities of New England, Maine and Delaware, at therapeutic academies for troubled teens, working one on one with individual clients, and at numerous conferences and workshops, including in Thailand and Taiwan. Her interest in healing has also included teaching incarcerated women in Maine and Washington State and incarcerated youth in Philadelphia with the CLAYMOBILE.
Arla went through the Central Bucks Schools until her senior year when her family moved to Southeast Asia. She graduated from high school in Bangkok, Thailand, studied at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA and Rome, Italy, and did her graduate work at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. She is the author of two award-winning books: A Body Story and Finding Ground: Girls and Women in Recovery. These are available by contacting her.
Her interest in healing has also led to her involvement with the first truth and reconciliation commission in the United States for what happened to Indigenous children in the child welfare system, the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She is continuing to work on Indigenous rights education here in Pennsylvania and gives a talk about our shared history with Native peoples.
