Art therapy provides healing for North Texas survivors of human trafficking

She called her painting, a vision of a woman fleeing from a cage, freedom. Three months after being rescued from human trafficking, she still felt far from free.

“I had drawn a woman in a white dress, symbolizing purity, rising out of a cage. On the bottom of the cage were black and white photos of syringes and very unhappy people crying and sad. She went upstairs, towards a number of different people, colorful and smiling and happy. “

The survivor, who requested anonymity to maintain her safety, joined forces with other survivors in 2019 for an artist workshop in the now closed Psychedelic Robot Immersive Art Experience in the Crescent.

With the help of the artists, she began to paint.

“The coolest part was taking my story, taking that turned off part of me, the creative part, and turning it back on. When I was in ‘game’ I was in fight or flight mode with no option to do anything else. I realized that I can take my own ideas and create something beautiful out of them, ”she said.

An organization called Beauty for Freedom helped trafficking survivors use artwork to express themselves creatively.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

The artist workshop was sponsored by Beauty for Freedom, an international organization with Texan roots that aims to empower and impart artistic and other skills to survivors of human trafficking. The organization has partnered with three other agencies in North Texas, Traffick911, Unbound North Texas, and Valiant Hearts, with the goal of eventually exhibiting the art that participants create.

But that plan was sidelined during the pandemic.

In September, the organizers revived the project, realizing the vision of an exhibition and sale in an exhibition entitled “The Art of Freedom” in the gallery in Legacy West in Plano.

“Our goal is to use art as a healing tool, to show these survivors that they are amazing in everything they do in life,” said Monica Watkins, Texan native and co-founder and CEO of Beauty for Freedom.

Monica Watkins (center), co-founder of Beauty for Freedom, visited the Dominican Republic on a missionary trip. (Courtesy Monica Watkins)

Since the organization was founded in 2014, it has helped more than 3,500 human trafficking survivors. His work included international missions to Ghana, India, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cambodia, as well as the publication of two photo books of survivors.

“Through skills and training, we aim to shift the narrative of survivors as survivors to published and exhibited global artists. What better way to do that than using art and music, photography, fashion and design to change your own personal narratives? ”Said Watkins.

The most recent exhibition at Plano was curated by Shannon McAnally and Travis McCann, a couple and artists whose own work has been exhibited alongside the art of the survivors.

Travis McCann and Shannon McAnally curated the latest exhibition at Plano. Her own works have been exhibited along with art from trafficking survivors.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

McAnally said it was gratifying to see the survivors’ art professionally framed and displayed alongside those of skilled artists. “It’s nice to see how all this effort and time pays off and directly influences and changes it in a positive way,” she said.

McCann said he appreciated watching the process in the original workshop and then seeing the survivors grow two years later.

“Art can be intimidating, especially when it is created in front of other people,” said McCann, who participated in the 2017 Ghana Mission for Beauty for Freedom. When you create with them, they become visibly more open and comfortable, and escape the art they create . “

The couple are working on an Spring 2022 opening of Gallery DeFi, a 17,000-square-foot space near Trinity Groves. Her goals include providing an immersive art exhibit and gallery space, partnering with local charities, and continuing the art therapy programs with Beauty for Freedom.

This work called “Freedom” was created during the Beauty for Freedom artist workshop and exhibited in a Plano gallery.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

For the creator of the Freedom painting, the experience was “very humbling and very grounding”. She didn’t mind the delay between creating and exhibiting her art.

“After two years of healing and restoration, it was a very emotional experience when I saw it again. I clearly remember the state of mind and thoughts I was thinking when I was filming this, ”said the survivor, a woman in her mid-twenties who was involved in the drug and prostitution trafficking.

She participated in a full emotional and healing process through a safe home, and when her case manager thought she was ready, she began her reintegration into society.

“I had charges and records and it was an extremely difficult time to reintegrate. I couldn’t get a job, cell phone or bank account, my credit rating was so bad. It was difficult to wash my name as a functioning person in society. After the two years I did it successfully. I was strengthened by the people around me. “

She has served in leadership roles for the organization she rescued, works full time and is doing an associate degree with the aim of doing a PhD in psychology. And recently she sold her first painting.

“When I was able to cultivate my story in the form of art, a part of me opened up that has invaded so many aspects of my life. I started to think that I don’t see everything in black or white, but that things are turning gray, ”she said.

Or maybe as colorful as the faces that she has captured in her painting, smiling and giving hope for a young woman who is reaching for the clouds.

How to help

For information about Beauty for Freedom and how you can get involved, visit beautyforfreedom.org

“The Art of Freedom” runs online until December 5th. The proceeds from the art auction, along with Beauty for Freedom, Traffick911, Unbound North Texas and Valiant Hearts, will directly support the survivors. Find the artwork on artsy.net (search for “Beauty for Freedom”).

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