An Artist-Led Collective
Tina Velazquez Hays
Mixed Media Artist
Bio: Tina is a painter, collage artist, and registered art therapist. As a licensed counselor, she helps healthcare professionals, first responders, and unpaid caregivers to address burnout and compassion fatigue. She runs an art-based monthly support group for therapists to explore subjects such as—appropriately enough—mess and chaos. Her public art installations have received grants from 4Culture, the City of Issaquah, the City of Redmond, and others. All of her artwork and art therapy focus on the confluence of creativity and connection.
On red thread: In 2020, Tina painted a window mural of red thread on Front Street to symbolize the unseen ties between us, a project funded by the Downtown Issaquah Association. “What if we could see the usually invisible ways all of our lives connect to one another? We are all tied together, for better or worse, crossing paths and twisting round and round.”
On getting unstuck: “I am a pretty messy worker to begin with, but sometimes I'll really lean in and make a huge mess. It's gotten me out of some creative jams. The mental work that occurs when I am putting things back together is really helpful for my process.”
On creative community: Tina is an arts commissioner for the City of Issaquah, an advisory board member of Art Commons, and a charter member of the nonprofit Issaquah Arts. She says she is always learning from colleagues and from clients in her private practice, Fresco Mental Health. “I am continually inspired by their processes.”
On classrooms: She loves being an art docent in the Issaquah School District, “but I am super passionate about advocating for paid positions for art educators at the elementary-school level.”
On pilgrimages: Tina recently visited Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, and she lived in California and Arizona before moving to the Pacific Northwest. “I continue to love the desert, but I believe I have found my heart’s home up here near the trees.”
Hometown: Riverside, California
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