As part of the “Bridging Creativity & Care” Series, this webinar highlights the powerful role of visual arts in supporting health and well-being across clinical and community settings. Through presentations and experiential activities, we’ll explore shared values, key distinctions, and opportunities for collaboration across sectors. Whether you're an artist, healthcare provider, educator, or simply curious about visual arts’ role in health, this session will offer valuable perspectives on how art-making supports mental, emotional, and social well-being at all levels of care.

Speakers

Nadia Paredes is a Registered Art Therapist, Licensed Martial and Family Therapist and Intuition Painting® Facilitator who founded Nadia Paredes - Creative Studio, a bilingual resource for Mental Health prevention, unblocking Creativity and authentic self-expression. She is the current president of the American Art Therapy Association and Co-chair of the International Art Therapy and Education Association. Her offerings include mindfulness based programs using embodied arts, art journaling for personal wellness, and international speaking engagements. Nadia has a published article in the Alternativas en Psicología Journal and is an advocate for preventive and community mental health. She is also an Art Therapy supervisor and adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University, California Institute of Integral Studies and at the Metafora Art Therapy School in Barcelona, Spain.

Instagram (Spanish) + Instagram (English)

Leva Zand, the Founder and Executive Director of ARTogether, is a dedicated advocate with two decades of experience in the field of refugees, human rights, and social justice. Her educational background includes a BA in Sociology and a MA in Feminist and Religious Studies. She studied law in her home country of Iran. Leva’s nonprofit career started in 2005 in Sacramento serving refugees from SouthEast Asia. Later she managed a team of reporters for The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), directed a publication for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), led a gender awareness program for the Eurasia Foundation and before founding ARTogether in 2017, she directed an online school for the Nonviolence Initiative for Democracy (NID).

LinkedIn + Website