Staff: Introducing Bonnie Hartenstein

Bonnie Hartenstein knows first-hand that art is therapeutic.  For over 14 years she has worked with people individually as a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitoner, in groups, as a Self-Help Instructor, a Tai Chi/QiGong teacher and as a Personal Growth Consultant.

Through the many years she has worked with people she has noted that when people allow their innermost creative powers (via therapeutic arts) to surface, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, acute and chronic physical and emotional pains often disappear.  During the making of art in any form, the process of being absorbed in creating something engages the body, mind and spirit so completely that the individual merges with the process and bodily tension is eased  The person is transported to another state of being somewhat like the dream state.  Emotional attitudes get cleared and change can occur.

Bonnie first realized she was an artist when, as a child of six squatting on the ground, she watched ants crawl in and out of their holes.  She was mesmerized, lost all track of time.  She realized the absorption into another realm was the essence of what she loved doing.  She experienced the same absorption when drawing.

In college, although Bonnie studied English Literature, Spanish and wrote poetry, she also drew and painted every evening and taught herself how to work with oils.  Most artists are proficient mainly in one medium.  Bonnie loves being loves the playfulness of being like a child who creates from a sense of adventure and exploration.  It is this quality she imparts when she works with people:  courage and innocence.  She skillfully  opens the door for adults to revisit the innate sense of composition, color and self-expression that children enjoy.  Bonnie believes in “Free Play” and “Art Without Fear.”  She is masterful in her ability to elicit this from people she works with. She has been teaching for 20 years – stimulating students to find their own truth.  Many of her students have gone on to become art therapists.

Bonnie received a Masters in Fine Arts and a second Masters in Art History, Theory and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  She became an art educator for Urban Gateways and later became an art consultant for the State of Illinois Alliance in Arts Education where she worked with school administrators and teachers to brainstorm and develop confidence in leading art activities.  She studied art therapy with the “mothers” of the movement:  Sadie Dreikurs (Adlerian Therapy), Claire Ridker (Gestalt Therapy) and Mildred Lachman-Chapin (Eclectic Approach).

Bonnie is an artist in residency at the Art Institute of Chicago.  There, she teaches other artists how to work with teachers and children.  Bonnie conducts national and international retreats helping people find the joy and discovery of experiencing how they ARE their art.

Bonnie has developed a creative way of  working with the individuals and groups who are seeking holistic healing pathways through the Beverly Coleman Wellness Services.

Beverly Coleman’s Wellness Retreat – Participants expressing their beliefs and emotions through art

Bonnie Hartenstein inviting your participation in the Beverly Coleman Wellness Services

Bonnie using her unique form mask making as art therapy