For 35 years Appalachian’s Expressive Arts Therapy Program—the nation’s only expressive arts program at a public university—has been educating and training caring professionals to integrate all of the arts into their work and way of being in order to support human growth, development, and healing.
In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Expressive Arts Therapy Program at Appalachian State University, a special exhibition of expressive arts work will be held at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts. This juried exhibition will feature the work of students, alumni, and current and former faculty of the Appalachian Expressive Arts Therapy Program.
Anna Ward; Memory Pieces
Deborah Tallarico; The Frog and the Lotus
Pat Kincheloe Morrison; Pay Attention
About the jurors
Sally Atkins
Sally Atkins, Ed.D, REAT, REACE, Licensed Psychologist, is a poet, writer, professor, and expressive arts therapist and educator. She is Professor Emerita of Appalachian State University where she was the founding coordinator of the Graduate Program in Expressive Arts Therapy and the Appalachian Expressive Arts Collective. Currently she teaches internationally, and she is Core Faculty of the European Graduate School in Switzerland. Her publications include two books of poetry and four textbooks in expressive arts work. Her most recent texts are Nature-Based Expressive Arts Therapy (2018) (with Melia Snyder) and Presence and Process in Expressive Arts Work (2014) (with Herbert Eberhart).
Tiffany Rickard
Tiffany Rikard completed her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Appalachian State University. While attending Appalachian, she completed certificates in Expressive Arts Therapy and Systemic Multicultural Counseling. Now a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in the Counseling Education and Supervision program, Tiffany incorporates expressive arts therapy in her counseling work at a non-profit community center providing mental health services to individuals in the Charlotte area. She has given talks about the integration of expressive arts therapy in the treatment of trauma while visiting Bahir Dar University in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia and DePaul College in Mysore, India. When Tiffany isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and two kittens.
Heather Thorp
Heather Thorp is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT). She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Expressive Arts, Leadership, Education and Inquiry. She serves on the board of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and has taught courses at Appalachian State University and in the community related to expressive arts. Her interests are in building creative community and the integration of expressive arts, social justice and environmental justice. She particularly likes creative writing, nature based creating, ceremony and collage.