Teen Art Space

Teens (ages 12-18) are invited to participate in FREE art making sessions in HCOA's Studio every Wednesday afternoon from 4-6pm!

These sessions will be facilitated by artist and art therapist Drue Smith, a licensed clinical therapist who specializes in art therapy, and art educator Lynn Marie Naden.

This series is presented in partnership with South Peninsula Behavioral Health Services (the Center) and supported by the "Arts, Health, and Well-being in Alaska Communities" program of the Alaska State Council on the Arts and aims to be a space that fosters self-expression and builds emotional awareness, promoting mental well-being in a supportive, peer driven environment.

General art supplies and snacks provided. Feel free to bring a project your working on!

Please RSVP below. We know participants may not make every session, but we do require a release and will send reminders for each session.

Who is Drue Smith?

Drue started at The Center in the fall of 2021 as an art therapy and counseling intern. She received her Masters Degree in Art Therapy and Clinical Counseling from Southwestern College in the fall of 2022 and was hired onto our team as a Clinical Therapist. Southwestern College’s consciousness-centered and holistic educational experience led Drue to support a client-centered approach. In addition to her emphasis on using art making and creativity to help support one’s healing, she has completed coursework towards certificates in EcoTherapy, Children’s Mental Health, and Human Sexuality. She enjoys working with children, adolescents and adults.

Drue grew up outside of St. Louis, Missouri, and then moved to Arizona where she received a BFA in Art and Visual Culture Education from the University of Arizona in Tucson. After college Drue moved to Flagstaff, AZ and worked at an off-grid charter school, working primarily with Navajo students. She has called Homer ‘home’ since 2014 where she has worked in early childhood education, taught art classes to children, worked on organic farms, and tendered in Prince William Sound.

Drue hopes to merge art making and creative expression with mental wellness to help support individuals and families in their healing processes in the community she loves.