Keynote Speaker:
Andres L. Hernandez is an artist/designer who works collaboratively with youth and adults to interpret, critique, and re-imagine the physical, social, and cultural environments we inhabit. He has developed and implemented innovative, standards-based art and design curricula within elementary and high school classrooms; trained school teachers and youth program staff in arts-integrated curricula and project-based learning using digital media technologies; assisted with research, planning, installation, and educational activities for museum exhibitions; and organized collaborative, community-based art projects. Andres has worked within a variety of school, community, and museum contexts, including Manley Career Academy High School (Chicago, IL), Umoja Student Development Corporation (Chicago, IL), Street-Level Youth Media (Chicago, IL), and the Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA), and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art Education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Panelists:
Randy M. Vick, MS, ATR-BC, LCPC is an associate professor of art therapy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he has taught since 1990. He writes and presents on a variety of art therapy topics and serves on the board of Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association and was the guest editor of the new special issue: “Men in Art Therapy”.
Sunny Jeanne Givens received a BFA in both painting and art history from the University of Kansas. After starting a family, she continued to develop her art making while serving as a coordinator for art educational programs with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and the San Francisco Art Museum, as well as with other arts-based organizations. Sunny then earned her Master of Art in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Most of her work as an Art Therapist has centered around home-based hospice care. Currently Sunny is teaching Introduction to Art Therapy at the School of the Art Institute, creating jewelry, and enjoying every moment with her eight year-old son.
Takeo Nagasaka received a Master of Arts in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2005. He works as one of three full-time art therapists on staff at Norwood Crossing, an assisted living and skilled care facility for older adults in Chicago. He was involved with developing and is currently running an art therapy program and expressive arts program at the nursing home.
Chris Belkofer is the art therapist at Lutherbrook Academy, a therapeutic day school in Addison Illinois. Chris received a Master’s in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003 and his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 2000.
Lesley Hawley, ATR, LPC is an art therapist, an artist, and a writer. Lesley has worked in a wide variety of settings in Chicago including Jamal Place group home, Ravenswood Hospital, Children's Memorial Hospital and Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Through her work as an art therapist she seeks to empower others with the skills necessary to bring positive changes to their lives and their communities.
Improv:
Keith Whipple, MA is an Associate Director of Drama Therapy at The Institute for Therapy trought the Arts. He is a 13-year veteran of the ComedySportz Improv Theatre, where he performs weekly and teaches improv. He has worked for schools, hospitals, prisons, probation services, and international refugee centers. Keith earned a Master’s in Education and Therapeutic Drama from Lesley College, following his Bachelor’s from DePaul University. He learned improvisation and Commedia dell’Arte with Geese Theatre traveling across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. He has toured Europe and Asia performing improv comedy.
Workshop Facilitators:
Carolyn Lewis, MAAT, LPC is the Program and Outreach Coordinator at Brickton Art Center, a non-profit community art center in Park Ridge, Illinois. She provides art therapy services to children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of community settings. Carolyn received her Master’s degree in art therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently holds the position of Exhibitions Chair for the Illinois Art Therapy Association.
Wendy Ritchey, A.T.R., B.C., L.C.P.C. is a socially awkward person who uses art to compensate for this lack of social facility. Despite this failing and also because of it she respects and identifies with people who suffer from various mental disorders and has managed to parlay her oddities into a useful career as an art therapist. In 1977 she earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree from the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio and began teaching portrait and figure drawing classes through the community adult education program at a high school in Indiana. This failed to pay the bills so she also worked as a residential manager in a supervised apartment complex for adults with developmental disabilities. There she spent most of her time drawing portraits of the residents. In 1987 she earned her Master of Arts in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and began work as an Art Therapist in various schools and hospitals throughout Chicago land. Among the highlights of her 20 year career include 8 years as the art therapist at the Allendale school for elementary and high school students with emotional disturbances in Lake Villa, Illinois and 4 years at St. Colletta’s school for students with developmental challenges. Eventually she landed at Loretto Hospital where she’s been working in the Expressive Therapy Department with patients on the psychiatric unit since 2001. Portraiture continues to serve as a strong component in overcoming social awkwardness or, translated into professional terminology, creating therapeutic alliances with people.
Valerie Newman, MAAT received a bachelor in fine art degree with an emphasis on sculpture from the University of Arizona, in Tucson. She graduated from the Master of Art in Art Therapy program, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in 2005. She currently works at Safe Passage, a domestic violence shelter in DeKalb, IL. As the first child sexual assault/abuse counselor at the agency, Val is working to establish the program both within the organization and the community. In addition to her job at Safe Passage Val pursues her art work where she examines the social issues related to her work at Safe Passage through mixed media sculpture and 2D art.
Denise Colletti, MA, ATR is a firm believer in the power of art to communicate, open doors, and bridge great distances emotionally, intellectually and geographically. Her own experience as an artist and collaborator inspire and fuel her art therapy work, constantly motivating dynamic approaches. During thirteen years of artistic journey alongside the mentally ill, and incarcerated at the Cook County Jail, Denise has consulted and volunteered with various populations including homeless, children with special needs, pulmonary support groups, those with spinal cord injuries, and community artists. Presenting nationally, facilitating workshops and educating are fundamental components of her participation in and responsibility to the field of art therapy.
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Andres Hernandez 
Randy M. Vick (Moderator) 
Sunny Jeanne Givens
Takeo Nagasaka 
Chris Belkofer 
Lesley Hawley 
Keith Whipple 
Carolyn Lewis 
Wendy Ritchey 
Valerie Newman 
Denise Colletti