Restorative Art adjunct professor, Ms. Tara Wright, recently displayed several of the second year student’s completed works of art at the East Chicago campus of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana.

MOR 209: Restorative Art is a second year course where students are exposed to the bones and muscles of the face. As part of the course, students begin to understand the advantages to restorative art as part of assisting families in the grieving process. Assisting families in reaching closure in their grieving is part of a funeral director’s job. For many families “seeing is believing” in reaching that goal of obtaining closure. Therefore, an embalmer’s ability to re-create facial features so that families can see their loved ones is of the utmost importance.

(L-R): Restorative Art adjunct professor Ms. Tara Wright, second year students Marlene Blakely and Ida Boyd both associates of Powell & Coleman Funeral Home, Gary, and second year student Carman Dobbins, associate of Solan-Pruzin Funeral Service, Hammond & Schererville.

In addition, a lab component of the restorative art course allows students to grasp the art of re-creating features of the face. From eyes, ears, the nose and the mouth, students learn the terminology and intricate construction of these features. In the end, they master the art of the re-creating and entire face from the measurements of a photo.

“We’re very proud of the student’s efforts and accomplishments. We just had to show-off their work”, adds Tara Wright. Ms Wright is also a funeral director with Kuiper Funeral Home in Highland, Indiana. “The lab portion of the course was my favorite part. In the lab, I could express my artistic side while appreciating the importance of restoring features for assisting in family’s closure”, adds second year student Carman Dobbins. For more information on Ivy Tech’s Mortuary Science program contact Rick Soria at 219-392-3600.