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Fall 2025 Lessons Weekly.

Emma Norton: Call for Artists to Teach! We are continuing our trauma sensitive art classes at Emma Norton! Looking for interested artists to teach! Must have taken trauma curriculum training previously from ACW or take the course offered before teaching. Next training course with by  Robin Getsug class training date Monday Sept 2nd 6-7:30pm at Headquarters-699 Lowry Ave NE. Email Kelly if interested. Must submit a teaching proposal lesson plan to Kelly and Barbara. Pays $200 per 2 hour class. Classes will be taught on Thursdays 6-8pm at Emma Norton’s St. Paul Restoring Waters location. We have most supplies, but supply stipends are available. 8 person class max. Must be a theme that can relate to social justice, nature, healing, etc.  See our website link below for details and email Kelly with interest. kellyfrankenberg@gmail.com Info and past classes: https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/emma-norton-lessons-2025/ How to write a lesson plan: https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/how-to-submit-a-lesson-plan/

Fall Classes August-December

(Teacher Bios below)

21 August Laura

Make your own Pocket Labyrinth!

A labyrinth is a pattern that can be walked for meditation and calming purposes.

We’ll make a pocket labyrinth that you can trace with your finger to calm yourself.

We’ll begin by making a beautiful intricate design in polymer clay. t

Then we’ll use slices of the clay to create a pocket-sized medallion,

that you can take home and bake to finish.

28 August Leo

My Voice

Learn how to make a zine and empower your voice and own narrative. Participants will make a zine sharing a life lesson they’ve learned. (Image represents the theme).

4 Sept Deb

BoHo Jewelry 

Jewelry is an art that can be made from things you have around. In this class you can choose between a collection of paper beads, diverse filler beads or charms to create a necklace or bracelet.

11 Sept Candy

Squeezy-Bottle Dye

Joyous recycling of t-shirts, fun and fast process, painting, dyeing your own shirts is empowering and addictive. BRING YOUR OWN SHIRT. If you don’t have one you can still attend.

18 Sept Laura

Everything you Need to Know You Learned in Kindergarten

We’ll cut and fold colorful papers to make three-dimensional paper collages that spring off the page.Have fun making either an abstract scene or colorful flower garden.

We’ll play in a low-stress way with shapes and colors, just like when we were kids.

25 Sept Layl

Bird Buds on a Stick

Use colorful oven-baked clay to make three little birds that sit on a real branch!  Make each bird symbolic of an important person in your life by adding fun details like jewelry or sports equipment.

2 Oct Katie

“Funny Face” Painting Class:

In this class we will explore acrylic painting processes using color and textures to express feelings or moods. We will use simple mapping techniques to set up the structure of the face and then use primary colors to mix the overall palette for our compositions. This painting class is an easy way to express one’s feelings and emotions through the use of bright color combinations and brush strokes.

9 Oct Sam st J

Watercolor Intuitive Landscape Painting

Learn watercolor techniques, use expressive color techniques, and create a landscape composition into a surreal dreamscape world.

16 Oct SAM Greene

The Healing Power of Mask-Making

The Healing Power of Mask-Making

Experience the transformative, healing power of Mask-Making with crafty-fun art materials.  Who are you?  Who would you like to be?  Release your inner goddess or diva!  Participants will create masks to express their deep thoughts and emotions in a safe environment that they may not feel comfortable sharing verbally.

Oct 23

Jewelry Jam with Margo

Create meaningful jewelry—bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and more—in this hands-on, beginner-friendly workshop. Use colorful beads, including optional DIY polymer clay, and add uplifting words or mantras to make each piece your own. Leave with beautiful, handmade reminders of strength and self-expression.

Oct 30

Six Word Story with Jillian

Discover the power of words by creating a story in just six words. Participants will create their own 6 word story, and then channel the feelings and emotions that story evokes through various media to create a visual representation.

Nov 6

“Meditative Watercolor” with Megan

Learn basic instructions about using watercolor and mixing colors. Together we will practice releasing expectations and creating intuitively, then look at our work to learn about ourselves and discover the meaning created by the experience.

Nov 13

Chaos to Beauty with Ann

Discover the beauty of imperfection through the expressive and meditative art form of scribble art. This no-rules class encourages exploration of color, texture, and emotion. It’s a calming and freeing practice that focuses on growth, creativity, and self-expression.

Nov 20

Anchor Bracelet with Liisa

Join us for “The Anchor Bracelet” workshop and embark on a creative journey to calm your mind and restore your peace. In just two hours, you’ll design a beautiful, wearable bracelet that serves as a personal reminder to use powerful grounding techniques when you need them most. Leave feeling empowered with a unique tool for self-regulation and a greater sense of calm.

As you weave each knot of your macramé “Anchor Bracelet” you are crafting a personal reminder of your strength and stability. This bracelet is more than an accessory; it’s a tangible symbol of hope designed to keep you grounded during challenging times. Wear it as a promise to yourself that you are resilient, anchored in positivity, and always capable of weathering the storm.

Dec 4

Journeys in Watercolor with Becca

Expand on your knowledge or start from the beginning as we create art from everyday life by creating a sketchbook journal. You will learn a sampling of watercolor and layout techniques to apply to your own art practice.

Dec 11

Warmth and Holiday Creations with Robin

We will create mixed media winter tree holiday cards and wooden holiday ornaments,creating belongingrather than just gift exchange. Make gifts for friends, family and Restoring Waters community, to share with space and members.
Holiday giving in the spirit of  justice, solidarity, and creating belonging.
“When we share warmth, we build home and community together.”

Dec 18

Hand-decorated Pouches with Karen

Image transfer and bright little paintings on tea bags. Make

sachets bags (lavender/cinnamon), jewelry gift bags, or decorations from simple tea

bags.

See past Emma Partnerships

ACW’s Partnership with Emma Norton Services continues in 2025
Survey Results

Teaching Schedule Classes:  Twice a month Jan-Dec  /Thursdays Jan-June
Register for Classes Soon.  Sign up at the desk at Restoring Waters.

January 9^th 6-8pm Meandering Art Journal: Easy bookmaking from brown paper bags with Karen Daphne McDonald

Create a book decorated with colors and pictures meaningful to maker. A relaxing and quick

project in which anyone can succeed. Makers experience the satisfaction of making something

that is one-of-a-kind, practical, and replicable book art.

January 23^rd 6-8pm Healing Beads: Crafting Vision Board Earrings with Rebecca Froehlich

Explore the power of self-expression and healing in this hands-on class, where you’ll create earrings from custom beads as personal symbols of identity and resilience. Using recycled magazine paper, you’ll design and handcraft unique beads that reflect your goals, dreams, and affirmations. The paper beads, rolled from your choice of magazine clippings, act as “living vision boards”—each bead holding personal meanings and aspirations.

Throughout the session, we’ll reflect on our intentions and identity, discussing how these earrings can serve as a reminder of the stories we carry. Walk away with a new set of earrings—and a tangible, wearable vision board—empowering you to celebrate yourself and the goals that guide your path forward.

February 6^th 6-8pm The Art of Self Care- paint a bud vase & make a print with Lynnette Black

Create a piece of art that is beautiful and useful for every day life, “Joy Bud Vase.” This project encourages self expression and builds confidence that  “everyone can be an artist.” The Joy Bud Vase is practical, and interactive, as you can put new flowers in the vase; even dandelions would look good.

You do not need expensive special materials to make art.  Also learn how to make a monoprint.

February 20^th 6-8pm Medicine Card Magic with Laura Burlis

Get Familiar with Animal Medicine Cards and draw one. Create a collage based on their response and feelings about the Medicine Card they drew. Share (optional) with group what they were thinking about or how they feel about their collage.

March 6^th 6-8pm Creating Sacred Space- Let’s build a home altar with Cynthia Mauleon

Through conversation and creating portable home altars, we will explore how we can shape our living space to promote healing, manifest intentions, and create a restorative atmosphere.

March 20^th 6-8pm Sashiko Slow-Stitching Coaster with SAM Greene

Slow stitching is a meditative sewing movement that is becoming really popular these days.Students can make several coasters, matching or non-matching.

They will make one or two in class and can take home the materials they need to make additional coasters.

April 10^th 6-8pm Scraper Painting with Katie Palmer

This class will focus on using different types of painting tools along with paint brushes to create interesting marks on canvas with thick and thin paint along with different painting mediums. This class will be using a variety of painting tools to create textures and add whimsical expressive mark making to our creations.

April 24^th 6-8pm Bottle Town with Paper Mache with Deb Rip

We will be creating and collaborating to construct structure(s) that could eventually resemble a town or village. Paper mache is a relaxing process.

May 8^th 6-8pm Salvaged Sentiments with Barbara Bridges

Participants will be able to take their old gift cards and re=engineer them into being a gift card which then becomes a Mini-wall sculpture.. re-cycle  and recreate.

May 22nd 6-8pm Card Creation with Gelli Plate Joy with Liisa Le

Participants will learn how to create with a Gelli plate. They will use this expressive medium to explore and reflect on personal experiences and emotions and create bright and interesting friendship caring cards to celebrate friends and family.

June 5^th 6-8pm Trees Talk-Are you Listening? with Leo Fortune

Take time to slow down, listen and look within. Leo will read from their bilingual (Spanish/English) guided meditation and then we will take about 30 minutes to listen to what comes up. Participants can journal, doodle, sit, move, whatever they need to do to hear what is in their heart.

June 19^th 6-8pm Mixed Media Messages with Robin Getsug

We will set an intention and explore the concept of personal power and resilience and the importance of expressing our unique visual voice

Our medium= mixed media collage= torn paper, images and words layered with bright oil pastels, tempera paint sticks and other drawing materials.

Teachers Bios:

Laura Burlis has made art since she was a child, and knows how important making art has been to her own sense of well-being and creative self-expression.

She has experimented with many mediums in her life- a few include painting, bronze casting, screenprinting, and scarecrow making. For the last 15 years her main medium has been Polymer Clay.  She uses the clay like solid paint, assembling her landscapes & nature scenes like a mosaic. She loves plants and landscapes, and was Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park in 2017.

Laura loves teaching both kids and adults both how to work with polymer clay and other mediums.

She has taught at the Textile Center of MN, Minneapolis Community Ed, Courageous heArts, Phipps Center for the Arts, Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, and for Breanna’s Gift, a program to bring art to kids in hospital.

You can find her art at: https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/BorealisArtByLauraB

Facebook: Laura Borealis Art

Debra Ripp

I am a native Minnesotan born in Mankato and based in the Twin Cities. I welcome you to come

visit my studio in the Dow building and the Creative Zone of St. Paul. The Dow building is on the

Green Line of the Twin Cities Light Rail System~ Tobersonstudios, 2242 University Ave. W.

#201B, St. Paul. MN 55114

Tobersonstudios is home to a broad range of spirited images by Debra Ripp in various media.

Toberson is the doghead figure on the home page; he is an original insignia character in Debra’s

work, the guide to all of her imagery. ~

I am a Mixed Media artists which means I am willing and love to explore all possible media,

anything that will make the image emerge stronger and obtain the voice it is meant to have. My

favorite thing is to vacillate between media and observe how the image can transform and

mature as it is manifested in different clothes, so to speak

Karen Daphne grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended the Art Student’s League in New York. Early on, Karen’s photo-realistic renderings set her work apart. Fascinated by quantum physics and frequency, Karen studied Sacred Geometry and in Australia spent time with a Reiki Master who was able to imbue painted image with prana or chi. One of her aspirations is to create art for public spaces that produces positive, healing changes in quantum field.

Karen holds a B.A. in Art and Education, M.A. in Language & Culture and M.F.A. in Writing. She has taught in NewYork, Miami and Santa Fe as well as France, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Republic of Georgia and the U.K.

Catherine A Palmer BFA,

University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN While I have been at the business of making art for as long as I can remember, my work as a student began in earnest in 1987 when I was awarded a scholarship to the Split Rock Art program. Since then, my study has led me from the precepts of life and figurative drawing to the freedom I have found in theory and an abstract vision. In other words, you need to know the rules to break them. And in the process of doing so, catharsis is found. My starting place is color; color leads me through space to composition. My subject matter can be identified as a conversation with the world I live in, influenced by feminism, personal circumstance and the on-going attempt to create a pure art object, one that exists solely for the experience of the beholder. I have shown my work in Minneapolis since 1997 in Galleries, Community Colleges and Coffee Houses. As a result, my paintings are held in personal collections across the United States and in Norway.   Artist Minneapolis

Lynnette K. Black,

Immigration, Social and Environmental Justice

Lynnette Black is a global medical device marketing expert, having used her visual arts and writing ability to market life-saving products and products that improve the quality of life, such as artificial limbs, wound care, pacemakers and interocular lenses for cataract surgery.

Now retired, Lynnette is a full time artist seeking to raise awareness of global issues such as mass migration, equal rights, environmental justice, and racial justice.  A cooperative member of Highpoint Center for Printmaking, she has exhibited nationally, including twice at the Katherine Nash Gallery, Regis Center for the Arts, University of Minnesota, in “Women and Water Rights” and “Women and Money”. In 2018 her print “Wood Nymph” was selected by Juror Crawford Alexander Mann, curator for Prints and Drawings, Smithsonian American Art Museum, for the Biennial International Juried Exhibition, Highpoint Center for Printmaking.

A long-term member of Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA), Lynnette is also a member of International Association of Female Artists (IAFA) and Art to Change the World.    https://www.lynnetteblackart.com

Artist, Minneapolis

SAM Greene, 2D illustrator and jewelry designer

After earning my BA in Graphic Design, I worked at design firms in New York City first doing print design, then illustration and design for the web. My most fun and inspiring job was a stint as head art director for Skittles and Snickers. During those years, I moonlighted doing editorial illustration for the New York Times, Business Week, and other publications. After 911, I worked independently as an illustrator and graphic designer. My biggest accomplishments were ninety illustrations for a book for Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and fifty signage illustrations for New York Botanical Gardens.

During this time I began developing my own personal work: a series of humorous illustrations of extremophiles (extreme life forms) and a second series depicting Planets and Planettes, which relied heavily on astrological metaphors and magical realism. This work was exhibited or sold at the Flushing Hall of Science in Queens NY, Brooklyn Public Library, and the American Museum of Natural History.

My career took a turn when I became a teaching artist for the New York Department of Education and the New York Department of Juvenile Justice. I taught art workshops to underserved students in New York City public schools and to residents of Juvenile Detention sites, both girls and boys in Brooklyn and Bronx New York.

And now I live in Minnesota, where I’ve finally come to embrace my own muse, making my art the main course, as it were, of my life. Since moving here in 2018, I’ve been working in polymer clay and have continued creating 2D illustrations–after a 5 year detour to earn my MA in teaching English as a Second Language while teaching at colleges, adult learning centers, and libraries. At this moment in time, I eagerly anticipate the next chapters of my creative journey.

Website www.sciencepiction.com

Email sam@sciencepiction.com

Barbara Rogers Bridges Founder and Director of Art to Change the World
Barbara has been an artist and a teacher/college professor for over 40 years. Her social practice sculptures have been exhibited in Maine, Miami, the Virgin Islands, Maryland, Chicago, Mexico, Spain, Canada, and throughout Minnesota.

Bridges taught K-12 art in Minnesota, Maine, and the Virgin Islands. She was voted Art Teacher of the Year twice in Minnesota.

Barbara has partnered with various Minnesota institutions such as the Minneapolis school district, the Minnesota online high school, Perpich Center for Arts Education, the Walker Art Center, the Mpls. Institute of Art, the Weisman Museum, and the Minnesota Museum of Art.  The online curriculum site and discussion group, ArtsNet Minnesota, came out of those collaborations.

Barbara has served as a professor for twenty years at the university of Minnesota and Bemidji State University and has contributed in a variety of ways. Her appointment includes teaching Foundations of Education, Human Relations and Critical and Creative Thinking and also serving as the architect of the unique DLiTE (Distributed Learning in Teacher Education)  – a hybrid online K-8 teacher licensure partnership program and the FasTrack secondary initiative designed for previously degreed candidates who wish to teach high school. These programs were the first online teacher licensure programs in the nation.  Artist    Minneapolis, Minnesota  Zihuatenjo, Mexico

Layl McDill

grew up in Gillette, Wyoming where she began creating at a very young age. Her early works were dollhouses, marionettes and even an entire “Smurf Village”.  Layl received her BFA in Illustration from the Columbus College of Art Design but she found it more exciting to make sculptural work and sell it through galleries and art fairs.  She has exhibited her work around the country since 1994. Polymer clay has been her medium of choice using the millefiori technique and some mixed media materials added.  The theme of wonder permeates her sculptures that are covered with endless details.  Her work can also be found in numerous books and publications. Selected recent awards include 2nd Place Overall at Arts North International 2021, Best in “Blue” at “Primary” Banfill Locke Center for the Arts 2021,  Best in Sculpture, Edwardsville Arts Fair 2018 and 2019.

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/layl.mcdill

instagram.com/laylmcdill/

Tiktokk.com/@laylmcdill
Twitter: @laylm

Robin Getsug

Robin is a mixed media artist, a licensed marriage and family therapist and a registered and board certified Art Therapist  .

Robin has been making  art since she was a child, expressing creativity and healing through her art . Robin believes art has the power to heal by embracing who we are, and expressing this  visually . Through our art ,  we can share our unique perspective of self , our feelings and our response to important social justice issues . Robin believes there is power in the layering of

Image, word, color, line, shape, and composition .

“I embrace a social Justice lens in my art. There is power in sharing who we are and what we believe in through our art.  We can express our hopes, wishes and dreams for our selves, for our communities and for the world through making art as a means of self expression and personal power .

Art Heals!” Robin G

Cynthia Mauleon

Cynthia Mauleón is a writer, teacher, healer, and motivational speaker. She is a grandmother and an elder. Cynthia enjoys photography and recently started dabbling in finger painting.

Following a thirty-year career as a Spanish medical interpreter, Cynthia recently “retired” to pursue her writing and develop other creative and healing gifts.

Sam St. John

Sam St. John ( she/her) is a Indigenous multi-media artist from Hastings, Minnesota. Her mother taught art for 31 years and Sam grew up in a home full of art created by her father. Sam developed a passion for learning about art history and drew inspiration from artists she learned about.Sam is a painter, poet, live painter, art facilitator, performance artist, and singer. Sam has an Associate degree in Fine Art from Inver Hills Community College. She finds inspiration in her travels, connecting to nature, animals,  meditation, and living near the Mississippi River.

Sam is passionate about art transforming lives. Sam’s art is grounded in the essence of storytelling, resilience, authenticity, and vulnerability. Rooted in the soul, art serves the purpose of evoking emotions, fostering connections, and building community. Sam believes that creating art, in any form, is a means of self-healing. She paints with expressive bright colors that narrates her story, recognizing the power embedded in our narratives. Sam uses her art to start conversations about mental health, identity, queerness, race, healing, and trauma in hopes to inspire others.

Leo Fortune

Leo Fortune (they/them), an emerging Minnesotan based artist and longtime public school educator, explores the power trees and spirals have to connect us to our authentic selves, to each other and to the world.

They began coloring outside of the lines at the age of three. Then, they spent most of their life disconnected from themself and consequently, their art. A year ago, at the age of 41, they came out as a neurodivergent queer trans human. Their art practice reignited and exploded.

They know first hand the power that comes from reconnecting to yourself. Leo harnesses their life story of being painfully disconnected to empower others to keep reconnecting and embracing their true self. They hold space in their art for others to be safely vulnerable. They deeply believe the more people are connected to their own love, the more the world will change for the better.

Candy Kuehn

Candy Kuehn creates wearable art, costumes, wall pieces, and sculptures in numerous media. She makes art pieces that are functional, reversible and have multiple uses that sometimes change with the passage of time. Many works live as well on the wall as they do on the body, on the ceiling, on the floor and on the stage.

As a painter her medium ranges from cloth to ceramic glazes. Her work features whatever makes a person or piece of art beautiful and moving. Her work has appeared at the Textile Center of Minnesota’s Art-in-motion shows, the St. Paul American Craft Council Fair and the Minnesota Craft Council Fair Market Place at the State Fair grounds. She has also created costumes for the dance theater company Ballet of the Dolls productions of “The Red Shoes,” “Enchanted Night,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Nutcracker (not so” Suite,” and “Cinderella”).

Candy was artist-in-residence in the Textile Center Dye Lab for 2007-2009 school years. Her digital photo drawings and portraits have been exhibited in several shows, Southeast Minneapolis Public Library had three shows and fabric installation in children’s area over the last six years, the Fine Art Show at the Minnesota State Fair for three years, and for WARM at several venues.

She received honorable mention at the WARM 40th anniversary show. She created digital illustrations for large scale projections and costumes for the Interference Arts production “It is She Who I See”, and “Elijah”. Candy’s “Human and Earth History” panels were selected to be part of the City of Hopkins’ Art Street public art program, was seen on the outside wall of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, and won Children’s Choice Award. Candy created costumes and large digital projection images for ‘Conviviere” and ‘The Palabras Project’ for Zorongo Flamenco, and costumes about Picasso’s earliest paintings, a Zorongo commission in New York City. The Marcy-Holmes neighborhood, commissioned an electrical box cover, for ‘Fresh Boxes’ which can be seen in Dinkytown, Minneapolis Minnesota. Her digital works have shown in The Hudson Hospital Rehab Wing and Westfield Hospital in Wisconsin and a show in Owatonna Hospitals, in Minnesota, Spring 2017. In  2016, Flow Arts Gallery, curated her work into several group shows, and her digital work was also chosen for “The Paranormal Show” at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, Anoka, Minnesota and “National Parks; Personal Perspectives”, at The Phipps Center for the Art , Hudson, Wisconsin.  Read More   Artist  Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Jillian Collins (she/her) is an emerging Minneapolis based mixed media artist and miniaturist. She grew up outside of Kansas City, Missouri, moved and traveled all over, and now calls Minneapolis home. Jillian has a BA in Anthropology, with minor studies in criminal justice.

After nearly 13 years in a corporate work environment, Jillian decided to take a leap and pursue more creative endeavors. She strongly believes in the power of art creating human connections. It helps to develop a deep sense of self, and provides the capability to process and express things like trauma, loss, social justice, and joy.  These beliefs combined with the intrigue of creating art from upcycled and repurposed materials helped to develop Jillian’s creative style. She also realized that tiny art seems to create a sense of nostalgia, and sparking that nostalgia in others was a special way to connect. Incorporating themes of grief, trauma, loss, and other emotions also help Jillian connect with people interested in her art, as well as fellow artists. Jillian continues to seek opportunities to build connections through art, and show that there are many ways even the most different people can relate or understand one another.

Margo Butler (they/them) is a multimedia artist and art educator raised in the woodlands of Northern Wisconsin and currently based in Minneapolis, MN. Working primarily in watercolor, illustration, and more recently ceramics, their practice explores the deep interconnection between humans and the ecosystems we inhabit.

As a non-binary person navigating gender dysphoria, Margo finds profound comfort and affirmation in the natural world—an entity that resists rigid categorization. This relationship with the earth offers them a renewed sense of embodiment and identity.

In their role as an art educator, Margo is passionate about guiding young people in using creative expression as a pathway to self-discovery, community connection, and global awareness.

Learn more about their work and educational philosophy at: https://margoannart.wixsite.com/website

Becca David was born in rural Pennsylvania and currently resides in Southside Minneapolis. She began her formal education at Edinboro University of PA and completed a BA in Art and BS in Business Administration at Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania. She is a Certified Master Naturalist and holds a certificate in Mental Health First Aid.

Becca paints primarily in watercolor and acrylics using linear elements within her work to explore rhythmic patterns inspired by music and her environment. Her latest mixed media body of work incorporates discarded materials and elements of her past work and is a reflection of the times and environment we live in.

Ann Chisnell

Ann is a multimedia visual artist. As an artist, she creates to process, to resist, and to connect. Her work is rooted in lived experience, particularly as a caregiver in a multiracial, neurodiverse, and gender-diverse family shaped by medical complexity and systemic injustice. Without centering the private details of her family, she draws from the emotional landscapes of caregiving, advocacy, and resilience.

Art, for her, is a space to question assumptions, challenge invisibility, and make sense of a world that often fails to honor difference. She uses accessible materials and inclusive practices because she believes everyone deserves a place in the creative process—especially those marginalized by ability, identity, or circumstance.

Much of her work is informed by trauma-informed care, youth development, and cross-cultural community building. She sees art not only as a means of personal expression but as a way to take up space, tell untold stories, and imagine more just futures.

Her creative process is both individual and communal. She is constantly inspired by the deep strength and support of her chosen family, friends, and the broader communities that have held her own family through medical, mental health, and identity-based challenges. In every piece, she aims to hold space for complexity, celebrate survival, and invite others into dialogue, reflection, and collective care.

Megan Moore

My paintings are accessible, calming, and med­itative. Themes of inner peace and sanctuary recur in my compositions as I use my canvas to frame small vignettes of the natural world. My paintings are ready to engage the willing viewer in contemplation and reflection. I am inspired by natural forms, creating personal symbolism, and employing my own version of magic realism—elevating realistic subject matter by use of idealized and dreamy arrangement. I create balanced compositions with instinctive but careful use of color. My background in illustration and graphic design is sometimes seen in the use of narrative elements or flatness of objects. I primarily use oil paints, but also use watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and drawing materials in developing concepts. Mural projects over the past five years have led to my use of latex acrylic in studio work.

The life changing events of 2020—the global pandemic and the local murder of Geroge Floyd and the subsequent civil uprising—were a catalyst for changing my approach as an artist from that of a craftsman to that of a co-creator, community engager, and meaning-maker. The pressures of 2020 caused enough of a shift in my perspective of life that I reoriented my understanding of values, emotions and connections in relation to my work. That fall, I completed a mural project that clarified my participation in public art as an opportunity to support community healing and a way for neighborhoods to express their shared values. A second project, a series of paintings commissioned for a new office space, and the conversations I had around the project, clarified the value of my art in supporting holistic individual wellness. My work is displayed in many health care settings, and the attributes that make it appropriate for those spaces are also supportive to individuals in other spaces, including workplaces and homes, as well as to individuals that see my public art. I am now less focused on my art as a final product and more interested in the experience of art, both in creation and sharing.

In 2021, I was invited by the Lake Street Council to be part of an artist panel to discuss the potential and power of including the arts as a central aspect of redeveloping the Lake Street corridor after the effects of the civil uprising. I have continued to work with the Lake Street Council on public art and have been an active member of my neighborhood artists’ group,  LoLa (The League of Longfellow Artists). Through two residencies with local organizations, which both included working in public space, I have learned the importance of artists as a community within ourselves. This encouraged me to give my first workshops in 2024, using painting as a tool to facilitate accessing individual creativity. Sharing not only finished work but also the creative process, with its experience of a flow state of mind, has become important to my work.

Teacher information:

How to write a lesson plan here.

Teaching at Restoring Waters info here.