Smashing a hard material to teeny bits, then putting those little shards together again in a way that is beautiful, cohesive and whole is oddly satisfying. I am talking about Mosaic. A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of coloured glass, stone or other materials. It is often used in decorative art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colours, known as tesserae. Some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone and called "pebble mosaics".

Mosaic artist Laurel True from True Mosaics Studio has witnessed this power in far-flung places around the globe, including Turkey, Kenya, Ghana, Mexico, Argentina and Costa Rica. One of the most dramatic examples came in Haiti, about six months after the devastating earthquake that levelled much of the country.

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti took an estimated 316,000 lives and destroyed buildings and entire towns. One such city, Jacmel, began a very special phase of its revival six months after the disaster to memorialize the lives lost: a mural project called Mosaïque Jacmel.

The organization, Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC) partnered with True Mosaics Studio who came and taught local children how to use mosaics to change the face of the devastation. True eventually became ACFFC’s Mosaic Program Director.

Today, Jacmel is known for its beautiful mosaic walls created by the city’s young artists and is supported by the local Departments of Tourism and Culture. Jacmel and Sud-Est recently commissioned the students to create mosaic stairs leading to the open-air market in the center of town. The mosaics stand as glittering symbols of hope and transformation in Haiti.

Jacmel is one true example of how mosaic helps in healing.

American Mosaic Summit is an event to be held this week where True and hundreds of other mosaic artists will be in Boston to discuss exactly this -- how making mosaics can promote healing and well-being not only for the mosaicists who practice it, but for the community at large. There will be lectures, talks, workshops, exhibitions and art tours showcasing global large-scale and smaller-scale mosaic projects. There will also be a “mosaic marathon” in which mosaic artists will furiously combine their collective energies to create a mosaic artwork during the course of the six-day conference. Whatever they come up with will ultimately be donated to a local charity. True will be delivering a presentation on “Mosaic Art and Public Health” in which she will discuss the power of mosaics in healthcare settings.

I really like the idea of art which starts with a lot of small pieces, like bits of tiles and broken plates to make an interesting work. A growing number of artists have begun making mosaics in recent years because it uses skills and techniques from other art forms, such as quilting and jewellery-making, to offer challenges and rewards in an ancient practice transformed “into a whole new genre” of contemporary art.

“Those of us who have been working in mosaics for a long time know very well the benefits from breaking things and putting them back together in an even more beautiful, meaningful way,” says Dawnmarie Zimmerman, executive director of the Society of American Mosaic Artists. “We kind of live the metaphor of it in our daily practice of making art. It’s really a perfect marriage of medium and meaning,” she adds.