Art Therapy 2026 (3rd Annual)

The 2026 Art Therapy Festival is our annual mental health programming day. This year's theme is Understanding, anchored in the line "We're All On The Same Maze." The day is built around one question:

What do you think people get wrong about you?

Spend the day with us. Make something. Watch something get made. Read what other people had the courage to say. Find your own answer.

Info: The interactive heart of this year's festival. Reflect on the gap between what you believe about yourself and what others perceive. Write your answer on an Art Therapy sticker and wheat-paste it directly onto the wall. You can paste as many answers as you want. All anonymous.

The mural fills in over the course of the day as more people contribute. By the end, it's a collective portrait of everything we carry that nobody sees. After the festival, the wall is displayed inside IKEA.

This is a space to express, ruminate, reflect, and find confidence in your own understanding of yourself, in the company of others doing the same.

Led by Hugo Chavarria, Community Murals and Youth Programs Lead.

Info: Three artists, three original murals, painted start to finish over the course of the day. Each muralist brings their own interpretation of this year's theme, Understanding. The campaign concept is context, not constraint. Their direction, their voice, their work.

Come early to see the first brushstrokes. Come back at 3 PM to see the finished pieces.

This year's muralists:

Speczacular (@speczacular) Rebekah Rose (@rebekahrrose) SIINCERO (@_siincero_)

You'll see them painting outside near the entrance all day. Stop and talk. Ask questions. Watch the process.

Each mural will be given away at the end of the event. After the festival, the murals are displayed inside IKEA. Mural winners can collect their piece once the display run ends.

Info: 100 limited edition numbered prints, signed by the artist, designed for this year's theme. Archival, acid-free, museum quality. First come, first served.

Buy a frame at IKEA, get this year's Art Therapy Festival print free. Sized to fit IKEA's standard frames so you can take it home and put it up tonight.

Designed by Speczacular (@speczacular).

Info: Free professional headshots for working artists. First come, first served on the day. Every artist who arrives gets a permanent profile on artistsafespaces.org with their headshot, location, mediums, and what they're open to. If we run out of time on May 30, you're first in line for the follow-up session.

Shot by The Inspired Capture (@theinspiredcapture). theinspiredcapture.com

Info: Bring your own art. Hang out. Make something. IKEA is your artist safespace today.

Materials are not provided. This is bring-your-own. Come find your people, work alongside other artists, and use the day as a reset.
No aerosols in the open studio area. (Sorry, we're planning for that next year.)

Info: Led by Marcus Omari, Poetry Program Lead.

11 AM to 12 PM: Arts Mixer DJ set, casual hangout. Come upstairs and talk to the artists, ask about the event, or chat about what art therapy means to you. An IKEA Arts cafe hour.

12 PM to 1 PM: Poetry and Panel A curated poetry set, not a competition. Marcus hosts. Performances and audience conversation woven together. DJ set bookends the hour.

Info: Your favorite art store is here with a free hands-on activity. Marble Zen Art: reduce stress and anxiety while creating one-of-a-kind abstract designs and unique art patterns with ink and coloring markers.

Open to all ages.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

1475 S Coast Dr, 1475 South Coast Drive, Costa Mesa, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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