BIO

Michaelanne Helms works with individuals and groups to provide creative therapeutic opportunities for people to progress toward mutual healing and growth. She employs her clinical skills as a trained art therapist, her expertise in teaching and visual arts, and her passion for community work to engage with people, make connections where they are, and find ways to journey together toward shared vision and purpose.

Born and raised in rural West Virginia, Michaelanne experienced “making” as a part of daily life for purposes of utility, for self and communal regulation, for extending care towards a neighbor, and for the simple joy that accompanies it. She studied Scenic Art in college graduating from Messiah University in 1999 and subsequently enjoyed painting scenery in theaters across the country. In 2006, Michaelanne moved to the Hunting Park neighborhood in North Philadelphia to work as the Community Arts Director at Ayuda Community Center where she created Orange Korner Arts, an after school art center for teens and their families. Her relationships with neighbors in North Philadelphia greatly shaped her ideas of human connection and kinship, and the role that the shared history of racist oppressive systems has played in feeding the isolation and othering that aggressively works to destroy that human kinship. Through Orange Korner Arts and her subsequent work as a Community Artist through organizational and freelance work in Pennsylvania and abroad, she facilitated the installation of over 20 large-scale works of public artwork designed and created by the communities she worked with. These experiences demonstrate the powerful role that the arts can play in facilitating dialogue and fostering human connection. Seeking to deepen her understanding of the connection between human interplay with art materials and psychological exploration and healing, she studied at Pratt Institute, graduating with distinction in 2023 with a Masters of Professional Studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development.

Michaelanne is the recipient of the 2013 Making a Difference Award by the Health Partners Foundation in Philadelphia, PA. She has received two Art and Change Grants as a Change Partner from Philadelphia’s Leeway Foundation for 2015 and 2016. She also caries a Professional Certification in College Student Wellbeing, Trauma & Resilience from Florida State University which she completed in 2023. Michaelanne currently resides in Frostburg, Maryland with her husband and two sons and is pursuing clinical licensure to practice as an Art Therapist. She continues to incorporate art making into all aspects of her life for grounding and for the joy it brings her.