Cathren is a community collaborative artist who has been working with the Community Libraries of Providence and other non-profits since 2012, developing arts and literacy programs and creating public art installations. She has been an artist in residence at Hattie Ide Chaffee Home since 2023, implementing visual arts and health programs with seniors and dementia patients. Website: ArtHouseRI.com
Want to give the gift of health this holiday season? Great idea! But first, a word of caution: There are some pitfalls you’ll want to avoid. I remember the year that I gave “Recipes For a Leaner You” to a friend at work. She’d been complaining incessantly about her weight and I thought she’d appreciate […]
Dear C; I am still in a state of shock after the election. That first day I felt disbelief, then sank into a dark depression. After listening to Hillary’s concession speech, I felt comforted by her optimism and positive attitude. Then I went into a state of denial. Now I am newly filled with horror […]
There’s at least one among every collection of family and friends: the vegetarian, the cousin with the peanut allergy, the girlfriend who’s gluten intolerant. In the past, the dietary impaired were regarded as strange, perhaps even mentally ill, and there were few options for them at the traditional feast other than to sip water, nibble […]
Dear C: I read an article on diabetes in the last issue of Motif that really got me thinking. My son goes to a school that feeds the kids breakfast in the classroom every day. He can’t avoid it; not that he wants to. You wouldn’t believe what they give these kids! Everything is packaged […]
Today, a friend of mine was told that he has diabetes. It’s a story that is becoming all too familiar. For perspective on this creeping plague, I went browsing in the Diabetes Atlas. It was a real eye opener. I had no idea diabetes was such a global killer. In 2015, AIDS-related illnesses killed 1.2 […]
Dear C; I have a stalker. Don’t laugh, I really think I do. It’s a guy on my street. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for almost five years now, and I’ve been going for walks since I moved in. Lots of people around here wave when they see me, probably because they see me so much. […]
It’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between the real presidential debates and “Saturday Night Live’s” satirical version of them. The election has crossed a line. We are not watching a political exchange any longer; we are watching a new reality show that has somehow managed to carry a braying donkey into the […]
Dear C, I am trying to decide if I should stay in college after this semester. I just don’t feel like I need a degree in order to do what I want to do, which is pottery. I love being creative. I am happiest in my space at a local share studio. I think I […]
Every 19 minutes, someone dies in this country from an opioid overdose. Many of these are from prescription pain medicine, but overdose deaths have also soared among users of psychiatric sedatives such as Xanax and Klonopin. Far too many people stumbled into their addictions unintentionally — just average citizens who initially got hooked on medicine […]
Dear C, I had a persistent rattling cough that wouldn’t go away and was so exhausted I could barely move. My primary care doctor was on vacation, so I went to an urgent care. The doctor there ordered a chest Xray and blood work, but before I even got the tests done, he tried to […]