GABRIELLE COOPER
Artist Statement
The strong desire to use my voice without using my voice to bring attention to relevant issues and express my emotions is what inspires me to create art. I am drawn to the fluidity of paint because I am a fluid, multidimensional entity, too. If my art evoked questioning, discussion, or change, then I met my goal for my audience.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Gabrielle Cooper (she/her/hers) is an Ohio born and raised graduate student in the Counseling and Art Therapy program at Ursuline College. After graduating in December 2021, she plans to return to Columbus to practice trauma-informed care in a community art therapy setting. She graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Child and Youth Development and a Fine Arts Minor. She is the current President of the Chi Alpha Theta Chapter of the International Counseling Honor Society Chi Sigma Iota. Gabrielle was awarded the Don Jones Memorial Scholarship and the Lucille Venture Diversity Scholarship to attend the 2019 and 2020 Buckeye Art Therapy Association Symposium. At Kent State University, she was the recipient of the 2016 Undergraduate Student Inclusive Influence Award, 2016 Student Leader of the Year Award, and 2017 Out and Proud Student Leader Award, and other awards
Her essential roles in LGBTQIA+ organizations as well as being the founder of an LGBTQIA+ student organization for people of color, gained her recognition amongst the Kent State community. While working as an intern for NAMI Summit County, she assisted in making major decisions regarding mental health issues and policies. In addition to art, music has played an integral role in her life. She has recently included meditation in her morning routine and views being authentic as self-care. Gabrielle strives to help people become more self-aware to increase life satisfaction and pleasure.
- What drew you to the field of art therapy?
- What drives your current work?
- Where do you see the field going?
I discovered the profession of art therapy at 16 years old throughout the process of deciding what I wanted to major in during college. I loved that art therapy would allow me to combine my passions: art, helping people with their problems, and mental and emotional health. Since I was young, I have used art to express my emotions and it has been my solace during difficult times in my life. I want to share the healing power of the process of creating art with the world in hopes that it will comfort them and bring about thoughtful reflection like it has done for me.
My mission is to bring awareness to the feelings and issues of marginalized communities, the Black and LGBTQ+ communities, in particular, and those with intersecting identities. I am doing this through my research, academic voice, personal artwork, and presentations. Elevating the voices and experiences of the silenced will always be at the center of my work. An interest of mine within the profession is trauma and its effects on the people who experience it in any form including generational, sexual, natural disaster, racial, medical, and intimate partner violence. I plan to practice trauma-informed care to assist in the healing process. I also aspire to make art therapy more accessible and affordable for those of lower socioeconomic status.
The profession of art therapy is technically still young; therefore, it has a great deal of potential. I want to see the field become diverse in gender by gaining more men, transgender, and gender non-conforming individuals. There is an unspoken understanding when receiving care from a person with similar life experiences. People of color need more access to the education to become an art therapist and the profession, in general. It would positively affect the field if there were more art therapists with visible and invisible disabilities. All these individuals can bring great value to the profession and educate art therapists on best practices when helping people with the same identities. In addition to becoming more diverse, I see art therapists increasing their knowledge of sexuality. I want to be a part of expanding art therapists’ comfortability with discussing sexual topics and increasing their openness toward sexualities, sexual practices, and relationship types that differ from their own or seem taboo. By continuing to advocate for the profession plus encourage recruitment of diverse populations, the field of art therapy will grow to be even more influential and effective than it is today.