Workshop

Framing the Here + Now

April 9, 2026
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

A fabric tapestry with a decorative archway shape. There is a person sitting cross-legged in the center atop the archway. Through the arch, there is a fabric with a pattern of birds flying in a cloudy sky above a plain blue fabric.
Moki Cherry. Untitled (Hear & Now door frame) (detail), 1976. Courtesy of the Estate of Moki Cherry.

“With a mind scattered between the sun and the moon, between the growing of the day and the very fine songs of the stars at night, trips to the planets I have not yet found the names of, I now give myself the freedom to SIT DOWN and collect a dream of the days of this special hill.” 

—Moki Cherry  

In the spirit of artist Moki Cherry’s search for cosmic understanding through present observations, join us for an experiential lecture and workshop. Together with the Gestalt Training Institute of Philadelphia (GTIP), we’ll explore art as a tool for connecting more fully with with the present moment, ourselves and each other.

Inspired by Moki’s set of tapestries made famous as the meditative setting for her husband Don Cherry’s album cover for Hear & Now, we’ll screenprint our own frames for seeing and taking in the world. Through conversation, exercises, and artmaking, explore the here and now as a framework for self-awareness and growth.

Gestalt Therapy is a humanistic approach, centered on the present moment. Using experiential interactions, Gestalt Therapy encourages personal responsibility and holistic awareness with the goal of inhabiting our lives with more presence, self-acceptance, liveliness, and creativity.

Co-facilitated by FWM Educators and faculty of the Gestalt Training Institute of Philadelphia, Laura Hawley, LCSW and Sarah Mello, LPC

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Event Information

April 9, 2026
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

The Fabric Workshop and Museum
1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

$25 Public | $20 FWM members

This event is SOLD OUT. To join the waitlist, please email us at info@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.

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About the Participants

For more information about GTIP and how you might use Gestalt theory to help you live more presently and fully, visit gtip.org.

Sarah Mello, LPC, began a second career as a therapist just short of her 50th birthday. She earned her degree in mental health counseling from Capella University. She has been working as a therapist for the past 7 years in private practice in Southern New Jersey where she specializes in working with trans and gender expansive youth and their families. Because of her late start in the field, Sarah leapt at the chance to supplement her graduate school training with Gestalt Therapy training. She graduated from GTIP in 2016. Gestalt Therapy Theory offers a chance for Sarah to tap into her experience in theater, fine art and youth development to co-create experiments and experiences with her clients. She is interested in deepening her understanding of somatic therapy and is trained as a trauma informed yoga instructor. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys encaustic painting, yoga, hiking, biking, and various fiber crafts. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a roller skating mail delivery person but finds therapy to be a pretty wonderful runner up career.

Learn more about Sarah’s work at hereandnowcounseling.net

Laura Hawley, LCSW, is a queer white gender expansive woman, 61 years old. She has lived in Philadelphia for over twenty five years. Laura has had a focus on working with caregiving professionals since her own early experience with burnout as a young social worker. She sought care at and ultimately graduated from the New England School of Acupuncture. After twenty years working as a professional acupuncturist, Laura returned to the formal practice of psychotherapy because she was interested in deepening her ability to help clients at an emotional level. Therapy with her draws on how the body holds both trauma and the profound potential for compassion, healing and balance. Laura completed the three year training at the Gestalt Training Institute of Philadelphia (GTIP) in May 2019, where she subsequently served on the faculty and as a practicum supervisor through 2024. She is IFS informed and certified in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She is currently participating in a Path program in Insight Dialogue at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. She has been the process facilitator for a group of hospital clowns for the Healthy Humor Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia team since 2018.

Learn more about Laura’s work at opencityhealingarts.com