Mission

Athrú was developed with a deep love and respect for the underdogs, the misfits, and the forgotten. As a result, one of the goals of the initiative is to reach as many marginalized communities as possible. This means offering therapeutic art making to anyone who has been excluded from mainstream social, economic, educational, and/or cultural life. These populations include, but are not limited to people with felony convictions, limited mobility, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, or low income. Persons experiencing homelessness, who identify as LGBTIA+, women and people of color. If you are interested in partnering with Athrú to better serve these communities, please be in touch.

Many of us carry a creative wound from our early years that has obscured our relationship with art making. It often begins with a judgmental comment, negative feedback or indifference to our work from a teacher, guardian or friend. These experiences cause us to question how we express ourselves. They urge us to fall in line, keep our creativity a secret or write off art making entirely. Sometimes this creative wound shows up as a preoccupation with making “good” art, or the misguided perception that art making is a waste of one's time.

For this reason, another objective of the initiative is to rewrite these scripts and reclaim creativity as a tool to deepen our understanding of ourselves. A wise part of each of us intuits that words cannot always communicate our feelings and experiences. Athrú's aim is to hold a supportive space for you to recover your visual voice and give those experiences new meaning. Connect with Nina today and begin a brave and beautiful journey back to yourself.