Event Overview
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a national movement to fight the stigma around mental health conditions. ROCO Edu invites you to an educational event designed to recognize the importance of prioritizing mental health and exploring Art Therapy & Bicultural Identity.
What does it mean to carry two cultures within you?
For many immigrants and first-generation families, identity can feel like a constant negotiation between places, languages, traditions, and expectations. Art therapy offers a unique way to explore these experiences beyond words.
In this introductory session, art therapist Isabelle Rizo will share how creative expression can support emotional wellbeing, identity exploration, and cultural integration. Participants will also be invited to engage in a gentle, guided art-making exercise exploring bicultural identity and personal narratives.
No artistic experience is necessary. This gathering is open to anyone curious about creativity, mental health, and the immigrant experience.
All materials will be provided.
What to Expect
• Short introduction to art therapy and mental health
• Guided art exercise exploring the experience of being Romanian or Romanian-American.
• Reflection and discussion
Our Special Guest and Expert
Isabelle Rizo, ATR-P
Isabelle Rizo is a Romanian-American art therapist and counselor based in Chicago. She currently works as a medical art therapist at Lurie Children’s Hospital, supporting children and families navigating complex medical experiences through creative expression.
Her work is informed by art therapy, cultural psychology, ethnography, and immigrant identity studies. Isabelle is particularly interested in how art can help individuals explore belonging, cultural memory, and the emotional landscapes of migration.
Outside of the hospital, she develops community-based art therapy programs that connect creativity, mental health, and cultural storytelling in her private practice and in museum settings.
Event registration
The event is open to anyone in the community. ROCO will acquire the necessary materials for the participants' projects. A donation is kindly requested to cover these costs.
- ROCO Members $10
- Non-Members $25
Become a Member
Join Us
We look forward to seeing you there!
Feel free to bring a snack to share or a beverage of your choice.
Parking is free and available HERE.
🌟Engage, learn, and grow with the ROCO Chicago community!
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