Creative Wellbeing provides culturally relevant, healing-centered arts education that builds mental health protective factors for system-involved youth impacted by Los Angeles County's child welfare system. It is a nontraditional approach that integrates arts and mental health strategies to support social-emotional development and healing from trauma.

This series is brought to you by a partnership between Wellbeing for LA and Creative Wellbeing, a strategic collaboration between the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, Office of Child Protection, Department of Mental Health, and the Arts for Healing and Justice Network, as part of the LA County Arts Education Collective to advance the goals of Arts for All Children, Youth, and Families: LA County’s New Regional Blueprint for Arts Education.

The Creative Wellbeing Learning Community is a collaborative and generative space for adults who support youth and families from LA County to be present together, nurture community care, and uplift collective wisdom to explore strategies, tools, and resources relating to healing-centered arts engagement and mental health promotion. This Learning Community builds on previous Creative Wellbeing offerings, including the Introduction to the Creative Wellbeing Approach, Wellbeing for LA retreats, Self and Community Care Open Sessions, and programming at school districts, county, and community locations. 

These virtual learning community gatherings feature conversations with peers and subject-matter experts. There will be opportunities to share insights, challenges, and perspectives. The gatherings will also introduce resources and walk-throughs of sample activities. The gatherings will nurture community-building and provide structured ways to discuss, reflect, and uplift collective wisdom to move conversations and practices forward regarding integrating healing-centered arts and mental health promotion into programs and systems. The goal is to help more individuals and groups adapt and implement a healing-centered arts approach into their work, healing journeys, and systems-change efforts. 

We look forward to including you in a supportive Creative Wellbeing learning community that provides connection, healing, and opportunities for transformation and growth to better effect change for young people across LA County.

This learning community gathering featured guest speaker Cory Tyler from Spirit Awakening and Agustin Herrera, Beautiful Buchanan, Morgan Radford, and Oswaldo Lira from Our True Colors (OTC), a program of Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN).