The Art of Healing Documentary
PROJECTS – ARTS FOR HEALTH & WELL-BEING
Meybis C. Pitty
Meybis has involved herself in arts and health during most of her life. She facilitated and assisted in activities that bring arts and dance to children, students, rehabilitation patients, and caregivers. Among these are the leader of “Pearson Dancers” learning
dances from all around the world; Ringling College Dance club teaching dance as a form to cope with stress; Visible Men Academy as a student-teacher; Booker High School ESOL teacher assistant; and, assisted Linda Odom and Cynthia Bydlinski at HealthSouth Sarasota.
As a Ringling Student, Meybis participated in an array of programs: All Ringling Television Network’s president, volunteering as a student ambassador and for the YEA Arts Program and sharing art with students around the community. Meybis’ commitment to creating a world where art is an aiding tool for people to overcome difficulties and challenges. Using this principle, Meybis directed her first documentary film during her Junior Year, ‘My Words Are Louder Than Sirens.’ The documentary depicted 4th and 5th graders from Visible Men Academy using spoken word as a way to use self-expression against injustice. ‘My Words Are Louder Than Sirens’ received the prestigious ‘Best of Ringling Gold Jurors Award’ recognition in 2018. Furthermore, Meybis was the recipient of the Avant-Garde finalist’s scholarship for her volunteering work during her Junior Year.
Meybis has continued using the power of storytelling to co-direct another documentary, ‘On The Wings of Performance.’ The film depicted the relationship between mentors and mentees, and how life-changing the actions of someone can be. Once completed, the documentary featured on ABC7. To complete her B.A degree, Meybis combined her passion for art and health in her thesis project, ‘The Art of Healing.’ The documentary depicted the impact Art has on people mentally, physically, and spiritually. All these explorations led Meybis to the next goal in her career to pursue her Masters in Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida.
Primary Art Form
- Video Production (including advertisements and Documentary making)
- Painting ( Oil, Acrylic and Digital Painting)
- Dance (Latin dances such as Bachata, Merengue, Salsa, and Samba)
Credentials and Affiliations
- Bilingual International Baccaulerate (Completed IB Fine Arts), UWC
Pearson College Canada - BA Fine arts (focus on Video Production and Documentary making) at
Ringling College of Art and Design - Minor in Fine arts at Ringling College of Art and Design
- Candidate for Masters of Arts Leadership and Cultural Management at Colorado State University
The Art of Healing - the documentary
The Art of Healing is a 20-minute documentary exploring the role art has in healing a person’s mind, body, and soul. The documentary portraits stories of people who have overcome challenges, illness, grief, disabilities and more through the opportunity to see, experience and share artistic expressions. Although the concept of art is very broad, this documentary sees art as an spectrum, from art and music therapists who use art as a form of psychological healing; medical doctors who use art as a form of connection and empowerment to patients; artists who share their talents to help others to express themselves and people who enjoy art to get out of their stressful and traumatic situations in life.
All of these stories show the true power art can make to people of any age, ability, gender, class, and experience. The message this documentary carries is one of awareness, support, and encouragement to people struggling with mental health, disabilities, trauma, and physical pain. The message elaborates on how art can be a form of healing and self-expression and acknowledges art as a reliable source of therapy in an era where mental health is in desperate need of being acknowledged and addressed. Finally, the documentary informs artists about how they can help people through art and explore art’s meaning in a personal and intrasocietal level. Many studies prove the power art can have on someone’s mind, body and spirit; this documentary is a testament to that.