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, incarcerated women, at-risk teens and those recovering from sexual abuse, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
Arla grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania during her formative years and moved back “home” after thirty years in Maine. She has settled in Quakertown, Bucks County, PA where she also has her studio. Visits by appointment. Her cell: 207 890-0966
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, U Maine and U 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 here 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. arla@arlapatch.com Her two newest books A Heart Story and A Heart Story Coloring Book are available on the Home page of this website. In the works: 3 Manuals on each of the three healing modalities she has developed: Second Skin: the Transformative Power of Body Casting Sculpture, Nature Fusion, and Bringing the Shadow to Light. Please sign up to be on the mailing list to be informed of when they will be available for purchase.
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 served as Community Engagement Coordinator for Maine Wabanaki REACH (reconciliation, engagement, advocacy, change and healing). Her work educating the non-Native community has continued in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area through partnership with Kidsbridge Youth Center and two grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Through collaboration with the three tribal communities in New Jersey, an educational program was created: “Building Greater Understanding About Native American History” which has been shared numerous times over the past several years and is available to schedule.
In November 2019, she became a founding member of the organization CNA: Coalition of Natives and Allies, a cross-cultural collaborative of Native Americans and allies who value cultural diversity and respect for all peoples. One primary goal is to help pass legislation in Pennsylvania to end the use of Native peoples for sports mascots.
www.coalitionofnativesandallies.org
She is a member of Doylestown Friends Meeting (Quakers) and has served on their Peace and Social Justice Committee and Pastoral Concerns Committee.