Who we Are
Welcome to the YMHArt
Hi, we are the mental health art program team, consisting of a group of passionate students from local high schools in San Diego, CA. And we wish to make an impact on youth mental health.
With continuing efforts, we’ll work together to break through barriers, harness our unique potential, and help youth improve their well-being. Let’s embark on this adventure together.
Connect with me:
program features
To help youth improve their well-being.
Healing through expression
Every brushstroke becomes a voice—art gives youth a way to express emotions they may struggle to put into words.
Community and connection
Our Art & Well-being workshops bring youth together, fostering friendships and support systems through shared creativity.
Confidence through creation
By completing each piece, participants gain a sense of achievement and self-worth that encourages continued growth.
Awareness through art
Each artwork contributes to a larger message—raising awareness for mental health and breaking down the stigma, one piece at a time.
Online resourses
Awareness on art and mental health
Embark on a transformative journey with online authoritative resourses. Elevate your mindset to help youth achieve their well-being.
Why youth mental health matters
Mental health challenges are the leading cause of disability and poor life outcomes in young people. Unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve seen significant increases in certain mental health disorders in youth, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.
Help young people feel safe, connected, and supported
The Jed Foundation is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive today…and tomorrow.
Supporting youth mental health with arts-based strategies
The devastating impact of youth mental health concerns is increasingly evident on a global scale. One such solution involves engagement in the arts: incorporating and building upon existing local resources and cultural practices to bolster youth mental health.
Origin of the Program
Early 2024, Yangminyan Wu learned from local media that there are many mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and suicide among young people. And she can indeed see the general pressure of young people around her. So she came up with an idea: Is it possible to do something to improve the well-being of youth?
Soon after, she initiated the Youth Mental Health Art Program and built a cross functional team to combine art and mental health for improving the well-being of youth. The artwork creation direction focuses on two aspects: (1) What youth mental health issues do we face? (2) What can we do for youth mental health issues?
Art Program advisory Committee
Creativity and mental health
Art has the power to express what words often cannot. I’m inspired by this team’s vision to bridge creativity and mental health, giving youth a safe and meaningful space to be seen, heard, and understood. May your work continue to uplift, heal, and inspire others.
Yin Gu
Mental Health First Aid USA
Express yourselves bravely
As your Art Advisor, I am not only amazed by your talent but deeply moved by your choice to use this gift to warm others and illuminate the world! Express yourselves bravely, connect with sincerity, and innovate boldly! Every stroke, every note, every movement you make is quietly redrawing the map of the soul.
Dan Li
Art Educator
Art lifts the soul
Art heals the heart and lifts the soul — it’s the best friend for every teen feeling lost, lonely, or full of dreams.
Through creativity, we express, explore, and grow stronger together.
Alice Yang
Art Educator
Kristin Calabria
Mental Health Therapist, LMFT
Founder of the BRIDGE Foundation
David Seid
Executive Officer, House of China
Alex C. Villafuerte
Executive Director, the Pac Arts
Co-Chair, the San Diego API Coalition
Barbara Fish
Art Therapist, Art Therapy Supervisor
Rhona Chang
Expressive Art Therapist
Ellen Speert
Art Therapist, Art Therapy Supervisor
make artworks accessible to everyone
12
team members
34
artworks
110K+
views
30+
countries impacted
FAQs
What’s the purpose of the art program?
We aim to combine art and mental health for improving the well-being of youth.
How did you form the program team?
Currently there are nine team members, who are divided into three subteams: Creative team, Technical team and Marketing team.
What are your artwork creation directions?
There are two creation directions: (1) What youth mental health issues do we face? (2) What can we do for youth mental health issues?
Besides the website promotion, what other activities do you host?
We host online and offline activities simultaneously. For offline, we will continuously host Art Exhibitions and Art & Well-being workshops to bring youth together.
How do you gurantee the quality of created artworks?
There are very talented young artists in our team. Also, we built our program advisory committee to gurantee our creation directions and quality, which are consisted of art and mental health professionals.
How do you think of call-for-artworks?
Our creative power is limited due to the team size. So we welcome more and more artists to join us and enrich our artworks inventory.
How do you review the artwork submissions and make decisions if they will be accepted?
The decisions will be made based on the opinions of the creative team and the advisory committee.
How about your Art & Well-being workshop?
We initiated Art & Well-being workshops to directly help people of youth improve their well-being, e.g. DIY Painting Canvas Tote Bags. Art & Well-being workshops use the creative process to promote mental and emotional health, offering various benefits like stress reduction, improved self-awareness, and enhanced communication skills. We’ll collaborate with the local art educators to achieve this purpose.
connections
Call for artworks
Ready to submit your artwork?
We will provide you a certificate of achievement once your artwork is accepted.