I was born and raised in the Mississippi delta and in 1992 received a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from Millsaps College. After graduating, I moved to Guatemala in Central America to work in an orphanage for a year before returning to the states to work with abused children in the rural North Carolina mountains.
I moved to New York City in 1998, and completed a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute in 2001. For the next 12 years I worked as a board certified art therapist and mental health professional and pioneered innovative art therapy programs in hospitals, detox units, homeless shelters, and a state of the art AIDS treatment facility.
While working with mentally ill AIDS patients, I felt the need for more knowledge and pursued a nursing education. In 2010, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from New York University. I worked in psychiatric nursing positions for over a decade and incorporated art therapy into my practice.
In 2023, a welcomed pause in nursing gave me the opportunity to focus solely on producing art and reconnecting to my Mississippi roots, while also exploring organizations such as The Painting Center in NYC https://www.thepaintingcenter.org/heather-jones-1 .