Monroe Township: The Healing Power of Symbols and Imagery with Triada Samaras and in memory of Eloise Bruce

The Healing Power of Symbols and Imagery

With Triada Samaras MA / MFA Master Level Teaching Artist

with Michelle Marigliano, Senior Director of Education and Equity

and Steven Carey, Content Area Supervisor at Monroe Township Public Schools, NJ

Choice Day Professional Development for K-12 Teachers

Williamstown High School, Williamstown, NJ   1/23/2025 

Email:  triadasamaras@gmail.com

Web:  Arts Educator - TRIADA SAMARAS

Blog:   Professor Samaras

In memory of Eloise Bruce

The Healing Power of Symbols and Imagery

"This professional learning program uses the art forms of visual art and poetry to foster well-being. Collage and poetry offer pathways into our unconscious mind where many of our fears and dreams live hidden from our view. In this workshop participants are given the opportunity to explore their creative selves, identify what sustains them, leave behind some of their recent losses, and create a new future to live into. Teachers can take the strategies of this workshop back into their classrooms and adapt them to give students an opportunity to explore loss and to reconnect with their dreams."

Eloise Bruce

Honoring a Legacy: Art and Well-being 

Eloise Bruce famously used collage and poetry to help participants "leave behind losses and create a new future." In this workshop, artist Triada Samaras riffs on that foundation, blending Bruce’s wisdom with her own focus on the link between mindfulness and creative practice.

The Process: From Teacher to Classroom

Samaras adapted the workshop into three accessible steps that teachers first practiced themselves, then prepared to share with their students:

• Breath-Drawing: Using meditation to ground the artist. In the classroom, this helps students regulate their nervous systems before putting pen to paper.

• Intuitive Collage: Creating without a plan to let the inner self lead. This allows students to bypass the "inner critic" and explore their own imagery.

• Black-out Poetry: Finding personal words and themes within personal imagery and intuition. This empowers students to reclaim their voice and build a unique identity.

Classroom Application These practices are designed for teachers to take directly back to their students. By focusing on authenticity and the inner self, these tools help students build the inner confidence and identity needed to navigate their own worlds.

Triada Samaras 2026

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The photos here capture teachers immersed in the creative process, documenting the transition from personal reflection to practical classroom tools.

Tags: Mindful Art, Teacher Well-being, Social-Emotional Learning, Art Integration

Newly Published: "Biomimicry and Human Design: Observing Bird Structures and Functions to Create Flying Machines with Artificial Intelligence" by Heejung An, Triada Samaras and Woonhee Sung

I am pleased to share our new article entitled "Biomimicry and Human Design: Observing Bird Structures and Functions to Create Flying Machines with Artificial Intelligence" published in the Journal of Technology-Integrated Lessons and Teaching. See the link below for the full article. View of Biomimicry and Human Design: Observing Bird Structures and Functions to Create Flying Machines with Artificial Intelligence

Trenton Board of Education Wood Scrap for Learning Professional Development with Triada Samaras

Welcome to:

Wood Scrap Art for Learning Professional Development Workshop 

Trenton Board of Education  12/10/2025

w/ Joanne Sung and Robert Keyes and Michelle Marigliano

Triada Samaras MA / MFA

Master Level Teaching Artist

Triada Samaras | Young Audiences

To Teachers: This reflection follows our three-part journey. It should take about 10–12 minutes—thank you for helping me document our process!

Google Forms Link

Day One:  Loose Parts:  Building growing structures/sculptures without glue.  Imagining/Thinking about trees and their natural growth patterns from the earth to upwards in the air and sky.  Finding ways to use the wood scrap to grow taller and higher. Critiquing creations using appropriate tools of words and analysis.  Writing poems.  Using the sculptures to evoke words and then creating free form poetry.  Drawing the structures/sculptures. From 3D to 2D.  Discussing classroom applications for various settings: the how and why.  Taking wood back to classroom to use with students. To be continued...

Many thanks to Laurie at Caseys Wood!

Day Two:  Theme:  A Sense of Place. Color Theory, Color Application, Attaching with Glue to Create Permanent Sculptures, Critique.  Building a place using paint sticks and glue.  Critiquing creations using appropriate tools of words and analysis.   Discussing practical classroom applications for various settings: the how and why.  Taking the wood and paint sticks back to classroom to use with students. 

For Teachers:  Learn Color Theory | Watercolor 101 with Sarah Cray of Let's Make Art 

Color Wheel was discovered Isaac Newton.

Primary Colors, Secondary Colors, Complimentary Colors, Tertiary Colors, Analogous Colors

Printing Colors:  Magenta Cyan and Yellow

To be continued...

Day Three:  Theme:  A Specific Place. Examples could include: A School. A Town, A Revival Spot.  Teachers Choose together.

Using floor plans and ideas about specific sites to inspire our use of wood scrap today working in self-selected teacher groups (2-3 people).

Additional materials used: colored paper, written labels, glue and

cardboard cut by teachers to create their site.

Critiquing creations using appropriate tools of words and analysis.   Discussing practical classroom applications for various settings: the how and why. Considering the overall framework for use with students. Final goodbyes and questionnaire time.

Goodbye for now! 

Professor Samaras