Demonstrating the power of creative engagement to heal.
For more information: email creative-exchange@imaginationcelebration.org
Creative Exchange is a program harnessing the power of creativity and human connection to enhance the integration and well-being of refugees in the Pikes Peak region. This program represents the partnership between two trauma-informed organizations: Diversified Consulting and Imagination Celebration, working with InnerCHANGE WORKS and regional arts therapists.
Through culturally responsive and trauma-informed activities, participants are guided on a journey of healing, growth, and self-discovery. The program highlights the incredible assets refugees bring with them and creates spaces of community and connection. Creativity promotes resilience and problem-solving in new and original ways. Adults explore their imagination while learning English vocabulary, connecting with peers, and nurturing their socio-emotional growth. The preschool children simultaneously develop their native language and English skills through interactive play. They learn to cooperate with peers while building age-appropriate abilities like communication, problem-solving, and social skills while being exposed to and practicing both languages in a supportive environment.
A highlight of Creative Exchange in 2024 was an invitation by the University of Colorado Gallery of Contemporary Art to showcase Afghan culture in a large art installation that was chosen by thousands of attendees as the People’s Choice Award winner, thus demonstrating the courage, vibrancy, and resilience of these women.
Volunteer! Your heart will grow and you will make the world better!
“Under the Same Blue Sky” – art installation by The Creative Exchange for WE ARE THE SKY exhibition at Gallery of Contemporary Art in the Ent Center for the Arts – University of Colorado
Zeir Aasman Aabi (Under the Same Blue Sky)
Textiles, mixed media, sound
2024
This immersive space, evocative of the remarkably similar landscapes of Colorado and Afghanistan, came into being to celebrate the richness of traditional Afghan culture, make the voices of Afghan women refugees heard, and to reflect and honor their courage in creating a new life for themselves and their families. As the viewer enters the installation and takes a seat, they may experience a shift from disorientation toward restful familiarity. Here, bright colors and intricate patterns of traditional Afghan arts meld with the beautiful voices of Afghan women speaking their hopes and dreams.
Local women artists worked with a cohort of Afghan refugee women through the Creative Exchange program to build community, overcome challenges, and acknowledge similarities: cities nestled below mountains, arid climate, birdsong, blue skies. In this shared space, participants call forth creativity, tenacity and courage to immerse in a new language and culture, establish home in a new place, and lay paths for their children to walk into the future.
Creative Exchange is a partnership of Diversified Consulting and Imagination
Celebration with InnerChange Works. Project supported by the Colorado Refugees Services Program and the Gallery of Contemporary Art
Healthy, aromatic, savory yumminess!
Creative Exchange
“Creative Exchange” is a program serving ORR (Office of Refugee Resettlement) -Adults and Youth (Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, Congo, Cuba, etc) legally welcomed to live in the Pikes Peak region from life-threatening circumstances.
Invitation to Newcomers: Explore a variety of creative activities while developing new skills, new connections to resources, and new friends. Teach some of the traditions of your country while sharing some favorite foods. Do creative projects with excellent teachers providing culturally appropriate sessions in Poetry, Visual Art, Music, Calligraphy, Dance, Ceramics, Textile Arts, and more. What do you like to make? What do you want to know how to do?
Creativity unlocks inner resources for dealing with stress, solving problems, and enjoying life. When we are creative, we are resourceful, and we problem-solve in new and original ways.
This program is a collaboration of DiversifiEd Consulting and Imagination Celebration with InnerCHANGE WORKS.
DiversifiED helps culturally dynamic communities flourish by supporting Refugee, Immigrant, and Asylee integration. Imagination Celebration connects people of all ages to the brain-stimulating, community-building, life-enhancing power of creativity by inspiring curiosity; instigating collaborations, and promoting life-long learning that helps us thrive in a changing world. InnerChange Works designs, develops, and implements culturally congruent, sustainable, and community-based programs that meet the basic human needs of health, education, and economic opportunity. Funding from the Colorado Refugee Services Program is managed by the Rose Community Foundation. The Colorado Refugee Services Program (CRSP) is a program of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) and is responsible for the statewide coordination of refugee resettlement.
