Where Art Meets Healing: Transformative Events That Uplift Communities

Healing Art Together events are powerful community gatherings that blend creativity, connection, and healing in meaningful ways. Whether it’s a hands-on workshop, an art exhibit, or a full-day conference, these events provide safe and inspiring spaces where individuals can express themselves, process emotions, and find support. Rooted in the belief that art is a catalyst for transformation, each event invites people of all backgrounds to explore the healing power of painting, storytelling, music, and movement. Participants leave feeling uplifted, connected, and equipped with new tools for emotional well-being. In communities where access to mental health resources may be limited, these events fill a critical gap—offering not only creative expression but also hope, visibility, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Future Events

Wear Teal For Shannan

A Community Event to honor Shannan and raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer

Join us  on September 14, 2025 for an outdoor community event in honor of Shannan. Together we’ll raise awareness and stand in solidarity at Hempstead Lake State Park.

From that journey, two powerful expressions of healing were born:

• JLisette Art – a collection of vibrant, soulful artwork and products inspired by Shannan’s light, offering hope and encouragement to women on similar journeys.

• Healing Art Together – a community and creative space formed from deep personal grief and transformation, where art becomes a tool for collective healing, connection, and expression.

Each piece created through JLisette Art and every gathering through Healing Art Together carries a message: you are not alone. Your story matters. And healing can begin with a single step—or a single brushstroke.

So we invite you to join us. Walk with us. Celebrate with us. Heal with us.
Because in honoring one beautiful life, we shine light on so many others.

💙 Wear Teal. Share Love. Celebrate Life.

Healing Art Together Gala – July 2, 2026

Join us on July 2, 2026, for the inaugural Healing Art Together Gala—an elegant evening of inspiration, connection, and creativity. This special fundraising event will support our community-based healing arts programs through a night of celebration, artistic expression, and collective impact.

Community Workshops & Exhibits

Our upcoming community events will offer hands-on workshops, engaging exhibits, and healing-centered gatherings that celebrate art, connection, and personal growth. Open to all, these experiences are designed to inspire creativity, build community, and support emotional wellness through the arts.

Healing Art Together Community Event – March 2025

Reception and Workshop with JLisette
Held at Elmont Library, this interactive event drew 50 attendees for an engaging intergenerational experience. Artist JLisette led a powerful workshop that included a presentation and a hands-on canvas drawing activity. Her Multifarious collection was also on exhibit, offering participants a deeper connection to her creative and healing journey. Visit the Photo Gallery to see more photos.

🧕🏽 2024 Healing Art Together Conference – African American Museum, Hempstead

Our inaugural event brought together over 100 attendees for a full day of creativity, community, and wellness.
Highlights:

• Keynote: Donna Walker-Kuhne

• Healing art exhibit from local and emerging artists

• Wellness panels and speaker talks

• Storytelling + movement workshops

• Community networking session

Wear Teal For Shannan

Wear Teal For Shannan is a powerful, annual walk held each September during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month to honor the radiant spirit of Shannan Dyana McCray. Since our first walk in September 2023, this event has become a space for remembrance, connection, and empowerment. In 2025, we proudly celebrate our 3rd year of walking in her memory—surrounded by teal, community, music, and love.

Shannan was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019 and bravely fought for three years, passing in 2022. She lived with incredible strength, love, and grace—and inspired everyone around her to do the same. Shannan’s legacy is one of joy, light, and courage, and Wear Teal For Shannan is our way of continuing to share that legacy with the world.

What started as a walk has grown into a movement—a place where we not only raise awareness, but also lift up those still fighting, those grieving, and those healing.

After Shannan’s passing, her mother, Janine Lisette McCray-Booker, turned her grief into something creative and transformative. She began to paint, to sketch, to pour her love into artwork that captured the spirit of her daughter and the strength of women everywhere.