Chair, Department of Art, Design, and Communication
Heather began teaching at 老司机福利社 University in 2016 and serves as the director and advisor for the Art Therapy Program.
Heather started her career working in the mental health field in 1994 as an art therapist facilitating and directing group therapy programs for adults with severe mental illnesses. She has directed both Adult Partial Hospitalization and Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement Programs in a community mental health setting.
Heather is a registered and board-certified art therapist with a supervisor credential designated by the Art Therapy Credentials Board, as well as a licensed professional art therapist and social worker in the state of Ohio. She is a professional member of the American Art Therapy Association, Buckeye Art Therapy Association, and Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association. She has presented at professional art therapy conferences regionally, nationally, and abroad. She serves as a committee member of the Undergraduate Education Sub-Committee of the American Art Therapy Association and Secretary of the Buckeye Art Therapy Association.
Heather began working with art therapy students as an on-site supervisor at Ravenwood Health in Chardon, Ohio, in 1995, overseeing graduate-level art therapy students during their internship placements. She began teaching graduate-level art therapy courses at Ursuline College in 1999. Coursework taught at a graduate level has included Group Art Therapy and Art Therapy Methods and Materials.
At 老司机福利社, she initiated a service learning trips abroad to Nepal and Italy where students volunteered at various sites including teaching art to children.
- Master of Arts in Art Therapy, Vermont College of Norwich University
- Montpelier, Vermont, August 1994聽
- Thesis: Art Therapy and Dual Diagnosis
- Bachelor of Science in Art Therapy, Bowling Green State University,
- Bowling Green, Ohio, May 1992聽
- Major: Art Therapy, Cognate: Social Work, Studio Concentration: Drawing
- Service-Learning
- Group Art Therapy
- ART 110: Art Appreciation (3 credits)
- Art Therapy Internship
- ARTH 225: Art Therapy Materials and Methods (3 credits)
- ARTH 325: Art Therapy Practices (3 credits)
- ARTH 425: Art Therapy Seminar (2 credits)
- Group Practices
- ARTH 125: Introduction to Art Therapy (3 credits)
- Introduction to Expressive Therapies聽
- Group Art Therapy
- Undergraduate Art Therapy Education
- Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist
- Art Therapy Credentialed Supervisor
- Licensed Professional Art Therapist State of Ohio
- Licensed Social Worker State of Ohio
- Buckeye Art Therapy Association-Secretary
- Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association
- American Art Therapy Association-Member Undergraduate Education Sub-Committee
- Denning, H.J., Schwartz, J.B., Rastogi, M., Hartman, A., Goucher, C. (2024). A descriptive summary of field placements in undergraduate art therapy education, Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, .
- Denning, H.J. (2024). Art therapy remote group: Midlife adults. In Dunn-Snow, P. & McNutt, J. (Eds.), Art therapy through the lifespan: A collection of case studies. Routledge.
- Denning, H.J. (2022). Beginning concepts of group work. In Rastogi, M., Feldwisch, R.P., Pate, M., & Scarce, J. (Eds.), Foundations in art therapy: Theory and applications. Elsevier Publishing Company.
- Schwartz, J.B., St. John, P.A., Lagstein, C.G., Pate, M.C., & Denning, H.J. (November 2022). Instructional content in undergraduate art therapy education, Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.
- Art Therapy Across the Lifespan, Buckeye Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual Symposium, University of Cincinnati Clermont Campus, Batavia, Ohio, November 2024
- Eco Art Therapy Wellness Practices: Nature as Media, Buckeye Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual Symposium, University of Cincinnati Clermont Campus, Batavia, Ohio, November 2024
- The Kramer Method: Using the Third Hand Approach to Underserved Children in the South African Townships to Promote Empowerment, Buckeye Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual Symposium, University of Cincinnati Clermont Campus, Batavia, Ohio, November 2024
- Collaborative Art in Group Art Therapy & A Descriptive Summary of Field Placements in Undergraduate Art Therapy Education, American Art Therapy Associations 55th Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 2024
- Integrating Collaborative Art in Group Practice, The Association of Specialists in Group Work Biennial Conference, Portland, Oregon, February 2024
- Lessons Learned: Expanding Ethical Art Therapy Practice to Publication, American Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual 54th Conference, San Diego, California, October 2023
- Instructional Content Areas in Undergraduate Art Therapy Education, American Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual 54th Conference, San Diego, California, October 2023
- Eco-Art Therapy Wellness Practices: Greening the Studio, Buckeye Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual Symposium, Pepper Pike, Ohio, September 2023
- Building Community Engagement in Italy: Service Learning Abroad, Buckeye Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual Symposium, Pepper Pike, Ohio, September 2023
- Eco-Art Therapy, Cuyahoga Community College-Eastern Campus, The Healing Earth: Environmental Art and Eco-Art Therapy, Exhibition and Workshop, February 2023
- Undergraduate Art Therapy Fieldwork: Practice & Ethics, Co-presenter panel of Undergraduate Art Therapy Educators, American Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual 53rd Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2022
- Lessons Learned: Expanding Ethical Art Therapy Practice to Professional Writing, Buckeye Art Therapy Association鈥檚 Annual Virtual Symposium, September 2022
- Southwestern Collaborative Art Exhibition, Theme: Illusion, Sante Fe, New Mexico, Virtual Exhibition, April 2025
- Creative Resilience, Arts Role in Mental Health, Tri C East Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, Feb.-April 2025
- Creative Expanses, accepted work curated show, Coburn Gallery, Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, Oct.-Nov. 2024
- Size Matters, accepted work juried show, Stella鈥檚 Art Gallery, Willoughby, Ohio, June-July 2024
- Women Works, Second Place Mixed Media Category, juried art show, Ashtabula Arts Center, Ashtabula, Ohio, March-April 2024
- Annual Faculty Art Exhibition, 老司机福利社 University, Aug. 2023
- Summertime Blues, accepted work juried show, Stella鈥檚 Art Gallery, Willoughby, Ohio, July-Aug. 2023
- Annual Faculty Art Exhibition, 老司机福利社 University, Aug.-Oct. 2022
- Healing Imagination IX-35th University Exhibition, accepted work juried show, Florence O鈥橠onnell Wasmer Gallery, Pepper Pike, Ohio, April 2022
- Jay & Mona Kang Virtual Art Show, accepted work juried show, Barber National Institute, Erie, Pennsylvania, April-May 2022
- Artist Art Therapist Artist, one of six artists featured in a curated show, Stella鈥檚 Art Gallery, Willoughby, Ohio, Sept. 2021
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