WHO WE ARE
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide a supportive environment for individuals to
REFLECT, EXPRESS, and EMPOWER self,
while building resilience and exploring the intuitive art process.
Our Core Beliefs
Everyone is an artist.
Everyone experiences pain.
Everyone has the ability to heal.
Art heals.
Our Story
Heart Art Healing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency, fiscally sponsored by Shunpike Arts Collective, founded in 2019 in response to the barriers many individuals face when seeking alternative and affordable mental health support. Rooted in the belief that art is a powerful pathway to emotional well-being, Heart Art Healing was built from the founder’s combined experience as an artist, teacher, and dedicated student of mental health practices. Grounded in trauma-informed approaches, our goal is to make art-based healing accessible to all—harnessing the power of creativity to foster resilience, empowerment, and connection within all communities.
Our Team
Cynthia Gahan is an artist, educator, mother of three, volunteer, mental health advocate, certified Art Life Coach, and owner of Heart Art Studio. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1998 and has been teaching since 2004.
Cynthia is a passionate mental health supporter with experience as a family advocate on Seattle Children's Hospital advisory boards and as a Basics class instructor for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She is trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy — STEPS-A and is a Certified First Aid Arts Responder & Group Facilitator, equipped with arts-based tools for trauma-informed care.
She founded Heart Art Healing in 2019 after years of volunteering free art classes to incarcerated youth and elderly residents in assisted living facilities. In 2023, she opened Heart Art Studio, a public space for creativity offering a wide range of creative programming.
Cynthia believes in the healing power of art and is dedicated to spreading the practice to larger communities to promote empowerment and healing for all.
Cynthia Gahan
Founder
Over the years, Helen has attended and led our Visual Art Journaling programs at the Issaquah Senior Center and Verdant Health Commission. She has also documented the work being done there, and provided Heart Art Healing with significant organizational support.
" I’ve always loved being creative. My creative outlet was photography —flowers, trees, nature.
However, in my career, I was a Production Manager. It’s a very linear job. There are steps that need to be followed to get to the end product. So, the creative side got pushed down.
Volunteering with Heart Art Healing has allowed me to use my workplace skills, in support to Cynthia, AND totally let my creative side come out.
Another plus are the great people I have met."
Helen Doty
Program Associate
Heart Art Healing is an Associated Program of Shunpike (TAX ID# 91-2138554), the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington State with the services, resources, and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable success.
We are so grateful for the past and present support of these amazing organizations.
