Select Projects and Programs
Art Therapy Lab International Residency with Studija Space
Collaborator: Studija Space
Year: 2024—present
Format: In-person, Kuldiga, Latvia
The Art Therapy Lab International Residency is a yearly program exploring the relationship between nature, creativity, and wellbeing through community-based art therapy practice. Co-curated by independent curator, Maija Rudovska and art therapist, Julia Volonts, the residency brings together art therapists and interdisciplinary practitioners for immersive art-making, reflection, and dialogue.
Designed for those interested in interdiciplinary practice that integrates a curatorial perspective with eco-art therapy approaches, the program emphasizes shared creative process, community connection, and professional reflection within an intentionally small, supportive group setting. The residency was created in response to the absence of spaces that meaningfully bridge art therapy, contemporary art practice, and community-based inquiry in a non-clinical, international context.
Across past residency years, participants have reported increased clarity in their creative and professional identities, stronger connection to material and place-based processes, and renewed confidence in their creative practice.
Paris Collage Collective Virtual Studio Series with School of Visual Arts NYC
Collaborator: Paris Collage Collective, School of Visual Arts, Art Therapy Department
Year: 2022—present
Format: Virtual on Zoom
The Paris Collage Collective Virtual Studio Series is an ongoing partnership between Art Therapy Lab and the School of Visual Arts, Art Therapy Department, offered as part of SVA’s Special Projects program. The series provides graduate art therapists-in-training with additional facilitation experience outside of their fieldwork placements, under the supervision of a licensed art therapist.
The project aims to connect people from around the world through collage-based art therapy experiences, offering a free and accessible program for the public while creating a shared learning opportunity for graduate students. The series is offered during the Fall and Spring semesters, taking into consideration student schedules and community needs.
Workshops are typically fully booked. Outcomes for participants include increased creative confidence, greater awareness of art therapy within international and community-based contexts, opportunities for shared art practice, and supported self-expression.
Art Therapy Lab Digital Zine + The “Zallery”
Collaborator: Independent digital zine project designed by Art Therapy Lab
Year: 2023
Format: Virtual Open Call and Exhibition
Art Therapy Lab Digital Zine is a collection of select artworks from our open call asking: “If your art could talk, what would it say?”
Artists, creatives, and human beings from all parts of the world were asked to email us an artwork, title, and caption answering this question. We received responses from Norway, Ukraine, Mexico, France, USA, Netherlands, England, and more.
This culminated in the creation of The “Zallery” — a virtual exhibition honoring all of the open call submissions.
Creatively Feeling: An Artful Approach to Mental Health & Well-Being
Collaborator: ISSP Latvia, Department of Health Psychology and Pedagogy of Riga Stradins University, Latvian Art Therapy Association
Year: 2021—2022
Format: In-person, Riga, Latvia
Creatively Feeling: an Artful Approach to Mental Health and Healing was implemented by ISSP Latvia together with Art Therapy Lab founder, Julia Volonts, as part of The Art of Staying Healthy program by the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture and Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being.
From April to June 2022, three community based art therapy groups were organized for people experiencing symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. These groups were facilitated at the ISSP Gallery in Riga, using photography and collage as the main tool of intervention. The methodology for group art therapy intervention was developed and test groups were carried out by art therapist, Julia Volonts, and assisted by Riga Stradins University Art Therapy program students.
Additional partners:
Data analysis: Sophie Mind
Create for Ukraine
Collaborator: Kyiv Collage Collective, CUTOUT Ukrainian Contemporary Collage Festival
Year: 2022
Format: Virtual on Zoom
Create for Ukraine was a series of art therapy workshops using collage to provide community support, raise funds, and further awareness on the war in Ukraine.
Participants from different parts of the world created together in a virtual studio to explore shared feelings. These are select artworks.
All proceeds were donated to benefit organizations in Ukraine as chosen by KCC and CUTOUT Festival.
The Art of Being Alone
Collaborator: Paris Collage Collective
Year: 2021
Format: Virtual on Zoom
What is your definition of being alone?
During a series of four workshops, participants from all over the world came together in a “virtual studio” to create artwork in response to the definition of what being alone has meant to them throughout the pandemic.
These workshops provided a space for the PCC community to connect with others, explore the benefits of art-making on mental health, and process shared feelings, from isolation and uncertainty to resilience and hope.
