Join us for a special event focusing on art, incarceration, and healing our community. Experience TRANSFORMATION, a powerful art experience giving voice to incarcerated artists in Minnesota’s correctional facilities in Stillwater and Faribault. Participants are invited to create a piece of art learn about the healing nature of art. Every participant will receive a bag of art supplies to take home.
During this experience, we hope to provide a safe space that will:
cultivate mindfulness and compassion
transform judgment to acceptance
orient the body and mind in the present
increase connection with the self and with others
r. raj he/him/they
recovering criminologist
associate professor, Metropolitan State University
raj is a recovering criminologist, alcoholic, and survivor of sexual abuse, with over 20 years of community-based activism as a researcher and educator. Inspired by our youth's resilience and the men in our prison systems, he trains school staff, probation agents, community members, and justice personnel on restorative practices, trauma and healing, value-centered leadership, community building, and unpacking implicit biases. He believes in raising consciousness utilizing the restorative circle process. In his latest work, raj explores our justice system's depths and creates a framework in which knowledge, critical consciousness, and heart become the root of our practices.
Liz Bechel, MA, ATR-P, LPC
Liz Bechel is a Clinical Program Therapist for the Minnesota Department of Corrections at MCF – Faribault. She graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a minor in Studio Art. She went on to graduate with a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Art Therapy from Adler University in Richfield, MN. She completed her internship at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in St. Peter, MN and carried her passion for Art and Clinical Therapy into her current position at the DOC. Her passion is working with incarcerated people and helping them find their voice to create a better future for themselves. In her free time, she creates artwork and facilitates media-exploration sessions in her private studio. She hopes to continue her education and continue to spread the awareness of the impact of Art Therapy.