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Welcome to Survivor Nest
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Join us online to view the short documentary film Bittersweet: The Survivor Nest Project by Katie Bourgeois. Learn how one Beverly resident, healing from sexual trauma, brought together a team of artists, survivors and allies by organizing the Survivor Nest Project.
Following the screening we will have a Q & A with the filmmaker and participants in the project.
*All donations for tickets go towards Survivor Nest providing arts programming to survivors of incest and childhood sexual abuse*
More about Bittersweet:
Katie Bourgeois, filmmaker, documents the story of Carla Beatrice, a north shore artist and organizer of the Survivor Nest Project. Taking place over the course of two years, The Survivor Nest Project was a transformational healing arts project for survivors of incest and childhood sexual abuse. Bourgeois follows Beatrice as she builds a giant life sized nest with Debbie Baxter of the Nest Project and then moves it to her backyard, inviting others to be nurtured. Beatrice then brought this collaborative passion project and healing programming/exhibit to Salem the following spring.
Hi there, I'm Carla.
Welcome to the nest!
I am here to hold space for survivors of incest and childhood sexual abuse. It is my wish to help survivors connect to their creative center through the arts and provide community, connection, as well as an opportunity for healing.
I organized The Survivor Nest Project with Portland,OR artist and author Debbie Baxter of The Nest Project. We built a nest together with helpers from my healing journey on the ocean. I went inside. Then we moved the nest to my backyard, where six more survivors went through Debbie's signature Nesting Experience, bringing the parts of themselves they wished to heal. This happened during a weekend in the fall of 2021 with our other collaborators.
In April 2022, we brought survivors and supporters of survivors together through several means of creative and healing arts.
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The public viewed the gallery exhibition with the nest and Debbie's accompanying portraits with stories. They experienced sound healing, attended a panel discussion, viewed a documentary, as well as heard the words of survivors.
We viewed this project as a way to explore and celebrate our collective roots & wings, whether we have experienced this
specific form of trauma or other traumas that may leave us feeling alone, isolated, or afraid. The life sized nest that we created held space for so many! We now have a documentary film and a magazine that recorded the project, and we hope to share it with many more!
Our Nesting Collaborators
Creating with Massachusetts and North Shore area artists and organizations was key for the Survivor Nest Project. In doing so, Survivor Nest wished to enrich and enliven the Nesting Experience for Survivors as well as reach out to our greater nesting community of supporters. Our mission is to offer healing to survivors as well as bringing the topic of childhood sexual abuse trauma to the public through creative and healing arts.
Lisa Kawski
Lisa provided sound healing for the nesters as well as offered a healing sound bath to the public
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Donna Jenson
Donna is a longtime advocate for survivors, and was the main support person to the nesters. She conducted writing workshops with the survivors and also presented a viewing of her documentary Telling is Healing
Katie Bourgeois
Katie created a documentary of the Survivor Nest Project called Bittersweet .
Feature Collaborating Publication
We were honored when Colorado based Founder and Creative Director of Voices Heard Magazine Claire O'Leary approached us wanting to dedicate the entire Spring 2022 Issue to the Survivor Nest Project. Between September 2021and February 2022 Donna Jenson offered writing circles for the nesters to continue processing their nesting experience. Nesters, Collaborators, Allies and Supporters contributed art, poetry and prose to the magazine. Originally an interactive e-zine, this issue was printed and is for sale.
Claire O'Leary
Claire is the creative director of Voices Heard magazine, which empowers sexual abuse survivors to shatter their long held silence through story telling and expressive arts.
