Kaleigh “Keekee/gypsy” Peery is an artist and mental health advocate. We met in 2016 working together in the mental health field. When we would talk about the creative interventions she would plan for the groups, her passion filled the space. In 2017, Kaleigh experienced one of the most painful events a person can walk through: the loss of her 1-month-old baby, Esmerlda (Ehzi) Phoenix Peery.

She created a stream of art pieces as she worked through her grief, eventually culminating in an art show, "Fearless Phoenix," celebrating her daughter and exhibiting a kaleidoscope of emotions. I spoke with her to better understand the role art has played in her healing and to reflect on the power of creative expression in recovery.

I asked Kaleigh the origin of her interest in art. She shares, "When I was little, I was in the hospital a lot. And the only thing I remember, since I was in and out, was going to the art room there. For me, it was my anchor. No one could take it away from me because it was something of my own." At a time when Kaleigh was ill, with an oxygen tank, taken away from her typical childhood life, and placed in these hospitals where so little was in her control, the art room offered her a portal to a space she could direct

She describes art as having been a companion to her.

Kaleigh lost her best friend at age 14, and she began to experience depression as a

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