Susan Edmondson is executive director of the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, a private foundation supporting the arts in the Pikes Peak region. Prior to assuming that position in 2003, she served for seven years as arts-and-entertainment editor at The Gazette in Colorado Springs. Susan also has worked for daily newspapers in Nevada and California. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a master’s degree in public administration at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. She serves on the boards of Colorado Springs World Arena, the Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum and the Colorado Springs Downtown Development Authority. She also is a board member and co-founder of COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region.
 

Session(s):
Boots to Brushes: The Arts Serving Veterans’ Needs

Mrs. Nguyen obtained a B.F.A. from LSU in 1990 and a Master of Science in art therapy at Mount Mary College in 1996. She has been working with adult mental health population since 1986 in various mental health facilities and hospitals. She works for AspenPointe since 2005 and currently serves as the Creative Expressions Program Manager. Since 2009, Mrs. Nguyen collaborates with different organization in the Colorado Springs area such as Ft. Carson Survivor Outreach Services, Ft. Carson Wounded Transition Battalion, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Cottonwood Center for the Arts, Colorado Springs VA, and Colorado Springs City to serves active military personnel and family members, wounded warriors and veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and TB (Traumatic Brain Injury). She’s an intuitive/expressive artist who uses her paintings and processes to challenge and raise awareness. She serves on various boards and committee and facilitates numerous workshops, classes and retreats in Colorado, California, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Sessions(s):
Boots to Brushes: The Arts Serving Veterans’ Needs

Naj Wikoff is the co-founder and president of the Creative Healing Connections, which organizes arts and healing retreats for women living with cancer and other chronic diseases, veterans of war, and other special populations. He is the former director of healing & the arts, C. Everett Koop Institute, Dartmouth College; a past president of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare; and recently served as a Fulbright Scholar at the East Siberian Academy of Culture, Ulan Ude, Russia.
 

Session(s):
Boots to Brushes: The Arts Serving Veterans’ Needs