Healing Hut for Soul Repair is a pop-up, interactive art installation created in response to the Santa Barbara region’s Thomas Fire and the 2018 mudslide disaster in Montecito. Inspired by shared childhood memories of making blanket forts in our living rooms and bedrooms, the installation is a movable, adult-sized hut for area residents of all ages. Designed to recreate those forts’ cocoon-like sense of safety and comfort, it is thoughtfully outfitted with sensory elements to calm the spirit. It is hoped that people will experience it as a quiet place to escape, reflect, and de-stress. The disaster changed the lives, the terrain, and the spirit of our community. We need many modalities for healing – art is one.

Supported by funding from The Squire Foundation, the Healing Hut for Soul Repair will pop-up, where invited, to locations around Montecito and other South Coast areas. It is meant to be a quiet gift, spontaneously offered.

Colleen M. Kelly is a multidisciplinary artist based in Santa Barbara. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. She is a staunch art advocate and believes that art saves lives.

FOR MORE INFO: contact Colleen M. Kelly at cmknsb@yahoo.com or call 805-965-7247 and leave a message.