Brett S. Poza received her BFA from Rhode Island School Of Design, an MA in Expressive Art Therapy from Lesley University and is a candidate for an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) in May of 2019. She worked as a rehabilitation supervisor and art therapist for the State of Massachusetts for many years, using a studio based and recovery oriented approach to art therapy.

Nature, the manipulation of tactile materials, and the use of a camera as sketchbook, drive her practice, which is grounded in observation and drawing.
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Brett spent many years running workshops and classes with adults, primarily in locked settings. She found that the structure of long term residential facilities created an opportunity to develop people's strengths in a unique way. The places where she worked were highly supportive of the work she did, providing materials and equipment for sculpture, creative woodworking, pyrography, furniture building and restoration, quilt making, felting, weaving, painting, drawing, digital photography, creative writing, art history and the use of technology for basic graphic design and layouts. She found it motivating to help people learn skills that they could continue to develop independently. Secondary to the teaching and production of works was the development of venues to show the work outside of the locked environment, as well as the creation of a revolving website gallery sponsored by MassPRA ( Massachusetts Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association ) and a short film made by students from Berklee College of Music. The goal was to have people rendered invisible by the mental health system, become visible through their work.

Her name is from Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, after the character Lady Brett Ashley. She is in fact married to a matador, and lives outside Boston with her family, two greyhounds, 4 cats, 6 hens and one hungry Oscar, and his pet plecostomus.

Brett S. Poza
threadeater@gmail.com
@theboneartist

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