本文採用藝術取向的研究方法探討身心障礙學生家長在藝術成長團體活動中的經驗。研究的目的在引導家長透過欣賞藝術作品及創作，打開其視野並開展藝術創作的經驗與潛能，希望藉由藝術活動滋養她們的身心靈，涵養能量來面對子女的教養問題和生活的壓力。本活動以「藝術養生，心靈Spa」為標題，涵蓋六個藝術主題。邀請13 位家長參加每週2 小時，連續7 週的活動。因為家長們常受限於照顧身心障礙的孩子，較少社交活動，我們相信，透過藝術欣賞與創作增進家長間的對話，提升她們對自我的覺察、對他人的理解，以及用同理心相互扶持。本文呈現家長在藝術主題中的主要活動內容，並關注家長參與藝術活動後個人經驗的改變。研究結果顯示，家長認為藝術是一個人生的徽章，可以為生命留下美麗的印記，開始用藝術的眼光看世界，且改變對藝術的刻板印象，增加了自己與小孩在藝術上的自信。此外，家長在團體中感到身心的放鬆，獲得
支持的友誼；不但提升自我的成長，更帶動了家人之間的互動。研究中也呈現我們對個人的成長及課程實務上的省思，希望本研究結果能提供規劃成人藝術教育領域類似活動的人士或機構，在內容與形式上更多開發的可能與更多元的思考空間。

The purpose of this study was to enhance the lives of parents of mentally and physically challenged students through participation in an art group. It was well understood that these parents had much more pressure than other parents in bringing up their children, and thus needed an outlet to
release their tension. Learning to use art seemed a beneficial way to
empower these parents to deal with their often difficult situations and
enhance their understanding of and relationship to art. The objective of this study was to use art activities as a medium to nurture the parents physically and mentally. This study applied art-based research which uses art as a method to free a person from the master narrative of the authorities and to listen to the minority voices. In such a method, the meanings are constructed multiply by the art participants (Rolling, 2010, p. 106; Leavy, 2009, p. 8). The objective was to enable the group participants to expand their vision of the world through their appreciation of art, and to relate to themselves and others through creative art activities. Six art-making activities focusing on self-exploration were developed to carry out the main theme of this study: Staying Healthy With Art: A Spa for the Mind. The parents’ art group had 13 members. The art activities ran for two hours per week for seven weeks and were conducted in classrooms, museums, and outdoors. The focus of this study was not on enhancing the participants’ drawing skills but on improving parents’s understanding of aesthetic experiences and concepts, and providing them a social outlet. Because the parents dedicated so
much of their energy to caring for and educating their children, they had limited time away from home, which limited their social interaction. However, through their appreciation and creation of art-works, parents’s social communication improved through involvement in the art group and their family dynamics also changed. They gained more awareness about themselves, other people, and supported each other with empathy, joy, and humor. Moreover, parents significantly improved their relationship with art as self-expression. The parents’ reactions to and performance in each art group activity were recorded and analyzed. Their change in attitude toward art during each activity was our special concern. The participants agreed that art could be personal and enhance their otherwise mundane and difficult lives. They learned how to use art to look at the world and their relationship to it both at home and away. They changed their stereotyped attitude toward art and became more confident in their children and themselves as a result. They could rest, relax, and make friends in the parents’ group. They felt growth and inner calm, and communicated better with their families. The results of this study provide specific ideas and approaches for adult art education curriculum. We hope these results can help other educational and social organizations design better content and activities for future parent support groups.