Larissa is a Chicago-based creative arts and mindfulness practitioner, video artist, and educator. She believes art has the power to increase a young person’s sense of self awareness, intuition and self trust. Creativity lends itself to vulnerability and authentic connection in a world where young people so prevalently struggle with depression, anxiety and mental health. Art and mindfulness has a way to guide teens back to their basic goodness through creative expression and breath. Larissa has been an educator dedicated to working within diverse communities in Chicago Public High Schools for over two decades. In addition to teaching video production and neurographic arts classes with teens, she has also served as a Calm Classroom facilitator bringing mindfulness curriculum to young people. She is a certifiedInward Bound Mindfulness educator. Prior to her work in arts education, Larissa was a documentary filmmaker and earned production credits on television shows for PBS, The History Channel and The Food Network. Most notably, she was the Production Coordinator for Season 4 of Art21: Art in the Twenty-First Century. She earned a Master degree in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College and a Bachelor degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.