All are welcome to attend our annual Holiday Worship Service and Alumni Celebration this Sunday, November 20th from 11am-2pm at the Health and Education Center.

A time of intentional community, this worship service allows us to gather and be thankful for the gifts we have been given. In celebration of the season, guests are invited to bring healthy food items to donate to those less fortunate. Items include: bread, fruits, vegetables, dry goods, dried herbs, canned goods, cooking oils, marinades, dressings and juices.

We hope to see you Sunday!

Skyland Trail is excited to be participating once again in the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s “Scarecrows in the Garden.” Our clients created an incredible work of art that will be on display at the gardens all through October.

The sculpture, titled,  “The SKY is the Limit,” stands over 6′ tall.  A large butterfly emerges form a chrysalis made from recycled grocery bags woven through chicken wire.  The giant wings of the butterfly are sculpted from the limber limbs of a young red bud tree and draped in the collaborative painted prayer silk that was created by clients, families and staff during the recent “Fellowship Through Spirituality” service. 

This year’s sculpture is a collaboration of both art and horticultural therapy groups (led by Helen Goldberg and Libba Shortridge) that met weekly for the month of September.  The inspiration was from our emerging butterflies in our butterfly box and the parrallel of our own metamorphosis through recovery.  Marizela M., provided endless educational support to the clients and staff involved in the project with her knowledge of butterflies based on her experience as a guide at a butterfly conservatory.

For more information, check out: http://www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org/events-classes/events/scarecrows-garden

I would like to welcome our new friends to the Skyland Trail art room. We now have 12 small society finches in a wonderful new cage donated by Primary Care Clinic Nurse Practitioner Maureen Newton.

The birds originate from China some 2000 years ago, where they were bred in captivity and no longer have a ‘natural habitat’. The birds live in a community and can not survive ‘alone’ (a beautiful analogy for Skyland) they take care of each other and make wonderful parents. These birds will sit on other bird’s eggs, and take care of other fledglings other than their own. They currently have two nests with eggs in them.

The clients have responded well to the birds, and they have produced some wonderful art work already. What a wonderful compliment to our new birding program. Please stop by the art room and welcome these ‘healing’ friends to Skyland.

Fairy Home created by Skyland Trail client

Clients in Skyland Trail’s horticultural therapy program will be going to Woodlands Garden today to build fairy homes on the grounds. These homes will then be displayed throughout the summer, kicking off with a special celebration this Sunday, June 26th from 2-4pm. 

Fairy homes, which are miniature homes and gardens alongside the paths at Woodlands Garden, release a client’s creativity. Fairy home building and gardening taps into the imagination and ingenuity of adults struggling with mental illness.  It allows individuals to celebrate the intricacies of nature while embracing their own talents and passions.

The music of Perimeter Flutes will be the soundtrack Sunday as guests stroll the garden. We hope you will stop by and admire the music, and our clients’ fairy homes.  More information can be found at www.woodlandsgarden.org.

Skyland Trail is thrilled to be hosting the Horticultural Therapy Institute (HTI) for their November education class on the Fundamentals of Horticultural Therapy.

Skyland Trail is not shy about acknowledging the importance of horticultural therapy in its holistic approach to mental health, integrating mental, physical and spiritual health. Upon opening its doors in 1989, the founders of Skyland Trail had determined that horticultural therapy is a viable aspect of recovery in mental illness. The two residential campuses and the main campus support two greenhouses, three acres of “healing trails” and numerous garden rooms for therapy. 

The HTI class provides education and training in horticultural therapy to those new to, or experienced with, the practice of using gardening and plants to improve th elives of others. The class is taught in a four-day intensive format.  To learn more about the class, please visit www.htinstitute.org

Skyland Trail’s three campuses each host a variety of therapeutic gardens for adults with mental illness while serving other populations as well. The inspiration for many of these gardens stemmed from the class sites for HTI’s array of horticultural therapy classes.  There is a stone labyrinth inspired by the labyrinth at the Cayenne Botanical Gardens. Participants in the class will also be able to work side-by-side with clients making “turkey” floral arrangements for Skyland Trail’s November “Thankful Service.”

We are so excited to be hosting the HTI and all the participants who come to Atlanta to learn more about horticultural therapy.

Sincerely,

Shelley Danser

Coordinator of Adjunctive Therapies

A huge thank you to everyone who came out last Friday to share in our annual Arts in the Garden community event. We had a gorgeous day to admire the talents of all of those who came out to showcase their work! Arts in the Garden is Skyland Trail’s chance to open our doors to the community–and we are so thankful to all of you who stopped by.

Be sure to check out the photos in our “photo gallery” ! We’re already getting excited for next year.

"Croc" pots made by clients were for sale

Horticultural Intern Lisa helps out with a workshop

T-shirt designer Jason shows off his art with Mark West, Chairmen of the Board of Directors

Some of the fabulous art that was on display and for sale

What a great reminder for Arts in the Garden—gorgeous photos of our campus and our beautiful flowers! These scenes were caputured by one of our clients and our horticultural intern Bryan Crook. If you haven’t been here recently to see all of our flowers in bloom, next Friday’s Arts in the Garden is a great opportunity to come check it out. We hope to see you there!

By now, I hope most of you already have May 6th on the calendar for this year’s Arts in the Garden. If not, be sure to write it down, put it on your calendar or set a reminder on your phone–we want to see you here!

This free community event showcases all the differnt abilities we have to offer- arts, music, crafts, horticulture… there will be plenty to do and see! And, as always, great art, plants and other items for purchase (my office is full of great stuff for the Treasure Sale).

So far we’ve got 36 art vendors signed up to be showing off their talents. We’ve also got a full lineup of musicians and animals who will be stopping by to perform.

This year’s AITG promises to be the best yet. And it will be even better if you join us. We’ll be celebrating our “Collective Spirit” from 9:30-3:00.
I can’t wait to see you there,

Shelley Danser

Adjunctive Therapies Coordinator