Dr. Annette Vaccaro and students from the Clinical Mental Health Counseling with Art Therapy Concentration program traveled to Iceland, where they learned about memory drawing and how children ages 10-14 can extend their memory of words over time by drawing them. Pictured with the group is Dr. Unnar Óttarsdóttir who is the art therapy researcher there.

The curriculum theme was Resilience and Self Care. Students toured on land and at sea and compared professional practice in Iceland as compared to the United States. In a country of only 390,000 they witnessed the challenges of living among rugged and sometimes barren terrain, extended periods of sunlight or darkness, and evidence of the impact of lava fields along with the benefits of a rich history of literature and image-rich folklore, geothermal energy and some of the freshest air, food and water on earth.

These art student-artists captured so many intriguing pictures that a photography exhibit documenting the trip will be on display in the Mary Jo Rolli Codey center this fall.