New Library Art Exhibit Makes Hope Visible

By Brian Hero, February 4, 2020, CSUSM

Alessandra Colfi is an expressive arts therapist who worked with patients at the San Diego Cancer Research Institute. She also is a practicing Buddhist fascinated with Eastern culture.

So, one day about eight years ago, Colfi stumbled upon the idea of borrowing the concept of the Tibetan prayer flag – a colorful rectangular cloth often found strung among trails and peaks high in the Himalayas – and incorporating it into her sessions with cancer patients.

After the initial eight-week series at the San Diego Cancer Research Institute proved to be a hit, Colfi brought her art flags program to other medical facilities where she works, including the Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, and began sharing the idea far and wide – via social media, trainings for local social workers and nurses, and an international network of expressive arts therapists.

“Pretty soon, flags started coming back to us made by patients and families and friends from other countries,” Colfi said. “I kind of planted the seeds, and then it took off. It became its own traveling show.”