Beyond Single Motherhood: Honest Conversation, Held Together by Art

Unfiltered #05 paired a panel on the realities of single motherhood with a guided art therapy session — and a supervised painting corner so mothers could take part in both.

Single motherhood is usually discussed through the lens of strength — resilience, resourcefulness, doing it all. Rarely discussed are the realities underneath that strength: the emotional weight, the financial pressure, the social judgement that doesn't always announce itself directly. On 9 June 2026, Unfiltered #05 tried to make room for both.

A panel, and then a paintbrush

At Paints & Potions Art Cafe in Nawala, a panel of practitioners and single mothers spoke candidly about the emotional, mental, financial and social dimensions of raising children alone — followed immediately by an interactive art therapy session, open to anyone, no artistic experience required.

The structure mattered as much as the content. A dedicated, volunteer-supervised children's painting area meant mothers in the audience weren't forced to choose between attending the discussion and caring for their kids — a small logistical decision that reflected the evening's larger point: single mothers are so often asked to hold everything at once.

Healing that doesn't require words

For some attendees, the panel discussion was the harder part of the evening to sit through — hearing their own experience reflected back at them. The art therapy session that followed offered a different kind of processing, one that didn't require finding the right words, just a brush and permission to make something without judgement.