In Collaboration with MoMA

A resource exploring the ways art can be a doorway to engaging a diverse range of emotions.

In 2022, the Museum of Modern Art reached out to commission an illustration for their digital platform’s work to engage conversations on art and mental health. (Yes, The MoMA! I’m still recovering from the thrill!)

In response to their prompt to consider how viewing art can be an opportunity to discover more of our emotional selves, I created a panel of 51 figures. In this poster-sized panel, each character represents an emotion that someone might feel in response to viewing art in a museum, gallery, or even online. The resulting piece is titled Caution: Art May Cause You to Feel. The full image can be seen on MoMA Magazine or my social media.

process shot of MoMA art commission.

Caution: Art May Cause you to Feel

In this illustration, I explore the diverse emotional experiences that often come with the experience of viewing art. Since it’s publication, it’s become a popular reference for art educators and was one of MoMA’s most-liked social posts of 2022.

The piece is both a playful invitation and a serious reminder that art can elicit emotional responses that are just as unique as our personalities, our bodies, and our personal aesthetic.

 “Experiences with art may stir up emotions that disrupt, surprise, and prompt us to encounter our emotional selves.”

process shot of Caution: art may may you feel art.

Marking Milestones

Truthfully, I’m a little more comfortable tucking my head and trudging along with my daily work than I am tooting my own horn, but there’s a time and place for noting how far we’ve come, and I know that for me, this is one of those times. 

Working with MoMA to create this commissioned piece – and writing the accompanying article for MoMA Magazine- offered the rare chance to flex my creative writing muscles in addition to my illustration skills. In the written article, I reflect on how a 5th-grade art museum visit left me stunned by the power of art to evoke emotion and how I learned to engage in viewing art as an experience not totally dissimilar to the art of listening to stories.

SEE THE FEATURE or or read an essay post about my emotional journey creating this piece

process shot of MoMA art commission.

  Get a Print of this Art 

While MoMA has permission to use this art exclusively for a season, the CAUTION: Art May Make You Feel feelings poster will be available as a PDF download and poster-sized print later this year.

Now available to download! Purchase a digital copy below or read more about this art and how to use it in a classroom.

Take a class featuring this art.

Last week I got a new update from MoMA about this piece. It has found a home- along with a lecture by Dr. Dan Siegel- in module 1 of a free online course called Artful Practices for Well-Being! It’s a free self-paced course designed to help the leaner explore how to use artful practices to slow down, reflect, get inspired, and connect more deeply with self and others.

I'm an artist, therapist, educator, and visual translator working to help make mental health education accessible to everyone. After a decade in tech, I transitioned to working in the mental health field and in 2019 earned a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. Learn more by reading about me or my therapy practice.

2 Comments

  1. I am so glad to have come across your work.
    It feels so current and graphically illustrates many of the ways Art Therapy can be used for communication.
    Thank you

  2. I love the Caution: Art May Cause You to Feel print. I can’t wait to use it with my grandson when we got to the art museum. Thank you so much for sharing your work with MoMA!

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