A Patterson Mill High School student created the poster adopted as the official 2015 Love Your Tree poster, part of a campaign by the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt
The center received more than 300 posters created by students from 23 public and private schools throughout seven counties in Maryland, in response to its ninth annual Love Your Tree campaign. This campaign challenged students to create posters that confront society's narrow ideals about beauty and embrace body diversity and self-acceptance. Love Your Tree is a body image campaign based on the work of award-winning playwright, Eve Ensler, author of "The Good Body," and more than 1,500 Love Your Tree posters have been submitted since The Center began the program in 2006.
Love Your Tree was designed as an eating disorder prevention program to help students of all ages develop protective factors including media literacy skills and positive body image. Students participating in the program had their artwork displayed in the exhibit and were honored at a reception Feb. 24 at Sheppard Pratt Health System during National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (Feb. 22 through Feb. 28). Of the hundreds of entries, 20 students received special awards and the poster created by Amelia Robinson, a junior at Patterson Mill High School, titled "Love Every Tree, Love Every Body," will be the official of this year's campaign.
Amelia's poster was inspired by her personal interpretation of the campaign's creative prompt, "Like a tree, my body is... unique and beautiful." The exhibit remains on public display until March 19.
"Amelia's poster beautifully conveys the campaign's message of body diversity. The quality of her watercolor drawing and soft detail reflects the natural form of both trees and the human body," Julia Andersen, expressive therapy coordinator at The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt and creator of the Love Your Tree program, said. "Amelia's art teacher, Rachel Steffen, from Patterson Mill High School is to be commended as well for bringing the Love Your Tree project into her classroom and offering her students a powerful and unique opportunity to use their art for a greater purpose."
"Each year we are increasingly excited by the hundreds of students who take part in the Love Your Tree campaign," Dr. Steven Crawford, co-director of The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, said. "On behalf of The Center for Eating Disorders and the Love Your Tree program, we congratulate all of this year's participants. The posters that are submitted never cease to amaze us with their creativity, new ideas and diverse portrayals of the Love Your Tree themes. We'd also like to say thank you to local art educators, school administrators and counselors for engaging their students in the topics of body diversity and self-acceptance through art."
While the Love Your Tree campaign uses art in a preventive capacity, art therapy is also used in treatment at The Center to help patients with eating disorders express feelings and explore body image distortions. This course of treatment helps patients connect with their emotions and their bodies and provides a creative outlet to help them express their feelings to others.
Schools interested in being notified of next year's Love Your Tree poster campaign, which will launch in July, should contact Kate Clemmer at The Center for Eating Disorders, kclemmer@sheppardpratt.org or 410-427-3886.