Arts + Wellness Forum: Self-Care and Mental Health

Chetna Mehta is a folk mixed media artist and creative wellness facilitator working and playing at the intersection of expressive healing arts, spirituality and psycho-education. She founded Mosaiceye LLC with a mission to promote women’s creative self-realization and embodied interconnection with one another and the planet. Through mixed media art, radical self-reflection and education in community circle, Mosaiceye is decolonizing creativity, uplifting emotional intelligence and inspiring expansive practice in mindfulness and compassion.

She holds a BA in Social Sciences with a concentration in Organizations from Cal Poly University SLO, and a MA in Counseling Psychology from The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. She is YT200 trained from a liberation-oriented perspective and continues to develop her training in Non-Violent Communication, Mindful Self-Compassion and Yoga philosophy rooted in decolonization and indigenous wisdom.

Sarah Shipman graduated from Naropa University in 2009 with an MA in Transpersonal Psychology with an emphasis in Art Therapy. After graduating, she worked for 3 years as an intensive court therapist. Sarah then worked with youth as a therapist specializing in substance use disorder in Boulder County. During that time, she also worked as a milieu counselor with offense specific youth. Since 2017, Sarah has worked at Emerson St. for the Mental Health Center of Denver as an Education Specialist and Academic Liaison for young people between the ages of 15 and 27, assisting young adults with educational goals. Additionally, Sarah runs many groups at Emerson St., including open art studio and other creative groups focusing on prevention programming.

Elizabeth Stanbro is a mixed media collage artist and trained mindfulness instructor. Since 2012, she has been teaching Mindfulness in a variety of settings and formats, such as “Create Calm,” which is a synthesis of Mindfulness and Art-making practices. She has designed and facilitated a program for cancer survivors at Parker Adventist Hospital, presentations for Colorado Art Education Association, and an Art Source teacher workshop. She has also taught the Mindfulness in Schools Program in an alternative high school and a IB high school. She designed and facilitated a Professional Development Mindfulness program for Teachers at an alternative high school. Elizabeth has a BFA from Miami University and an MFA from Kent State University. She holds an Art K-12 certification from the Colorado Department of Education and is a Certified Mindfulness Teacher. She is also a trained facilitator in the Opening Minds Through Art (OMA) program and completed the Creative Aging Training from The Creative Center in New York City. Elizabeth continues to make her own art and is currently represented by fooLPRoof contemporary art gallery in Denver.

Spencer is co-founder of Music Minds Matter, and also facilitates the Mental Wellness Meetup for musicians in the community who are struggling with their mental wellness as it pertains to being involved in the music scene and beyond using skills learned while obtaining his license as a Mental Health First Aid instructor.
Spencer also fronts the Denver alternative rock quartet The Hollow, which has been nominated as Denver’s Best Rock Band over the past two years by 303 Magazine and Denver’s Westword and has opened for national acts such as Trapt, Badflower, The Verve Pipe, and more.
If you’re interested in learning more, email spencer@musicmindsmatter.org.

Brian Harper graduated with his BA in Acting from California Lutheran University. He began his career with Kaiser Permanente’s Arts Integrated Resources in 1996 after a national tour with Missoula Children’s Theatre in Montana. He currently manages the Educational Theatre work including our internship with students from Metro State University of Denver. He is a director, actor and facilitator and loves working with young people. Brian also has a passion for improv comedy. He has performed in over 2,000 live improv shows and co-owned Madcap Theatre in Westminster for nearly 11 years. Brian truly believes laughter is the best medicine.