[Self-Study] Black History Continues - The Future of the Field

Professor Louvenia Jackson is an assistant professor at Loyola Marymount University in the Marital Family Therapy/ Art Therapy Department. Her work on cultural humility in art therapy has earned her May 2016 Outstanding Service Award in the Art Therapy Ph.D. Program from Notre Dame de Namur University and the AATA 2016 Pearlie Roberson Scholarship.

Yemisi Ola-Afolayan has a BA Fine and Applied Arts from TheObafemi Awolowo University . Yemisi's art work takes on critical, political, and cultural issues, often referencing African lives and daily experiences. From her eyes and emotion, her works explore the varying relationships between popular culture and fine art. She majored in sculpture while in school, but has explored in fugurative portraits using pen as well as paintings.

Jasmine Smith is an art educator from the Caribbean now navigating a path in art therapy and clinical mental health counseling, while demonstrating a deep commitment to diverse populations. Through internships, has gained experience working with university students, individuals in incarceration, and children with disabilities, reflecting a broad and inclusive approach to therapeutic practice.

Cassandra Jefferson is responsible for coordinating Experience Corps Tutor Volunteers at Bayard Taylor School in Philadelphia, Pa. * Communication, Planning, Documentation and Evaluation of Eight tutors with their students. * Ascertain the Reading and Writing Level of Each Student and Each Student's Literary Needs. * Primary contact between the Volunteer Members, the School Principal, Designated School Staff and Main Office

Amber Bliss is an Art Therapist who recently graduated from Loyola Marymount University's Marital and Family/Art Therapy Therapy program. As a creative clinician in the field, she intimately understands the intersection between art and healing. She recognizes the needs of communities impacted by a socially pathologized society and her personal and professional responsibility to be in strong allyship, to engage in environmental and artistic activism, and to decolonize mental health. Informed by her lived experience with both systemic injustice and privilege, Amber aims to incorporate her commitment to the individuals she serves, with the bright vision of an exponentially liberated future.