Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Helen Kagan.
Hi Dr. Kagan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Hello! I am Helen Kagan, Ph.D., a healing artist, and a creator of my unique multi-dimensional concept “HealingArts”. I believe art heals. I believe in the inter-connectedness of mind, body, and spirit. A holistic therapist and artist I developed my unique technique and style integrating Fine Art, Expressive Arts, and the Art of Healing. I believe that art as a powerful form of self-expression is a vehicle for emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
I’ve created my brand HealingArts™ over 25 years ago when I first have been practicing healing work as a holistic practitioner. Being a Scientist, Psychologist, Therapist & Counselor helped me to conceptualize and further develop my concept “HealingArts”, while being a Healer and Artist – added a gift to express it in beautiful ways that warms your heart and touches your Soul.
I do believe that ART is a catalyst for healing individuals, society, and environment. I consider myself a pioneer in creating art with an INTENTION to heal. As a severe PTSD survivor my own complex life Journey brought me to the point where I would not survive without creating. I think I am a true “healing artist” who started to use art, energy and spiritual work, music, movement, and other expressive modalities to support my own healing, as well as to enhance a healing process to those in need. I bring together Fine Art, and the Art of Healing by synergistically integrating healing frequencies of color, positively charged intention, embedded spiritual messages, and energetically balanced composition.
For 15 years my HealingArts™ has been a “one-person” enterprise, and I’ve been an owner/founder and a key member/entrepreneur all of which brings quite a bit of challenges. Around 2005 I started to create more healing artwork – first for my own healing process as a person suffering from PTSD which had been quite active due to multiple challenges – immigrant reality, family difficulties, and working 3.5 jobs in NYC – all had its tall. I had to create my own tools for healing. This is how my HealingArts™ began its journey. Since then, I’ve continued to work on my unique healing modality while creating my art for healing and communicating my “message” to people and communities in need. All this time I wanted to ensure that my “HealingArts” is communicated consistently and compellingly to galleries, curators, collectors, various art venues and organizations, Hospitals, Medical Centers, Corporate venues & facilities, Hotels, and other audiences. Why? Because I believe it has a big future. My art has been touching hearts and Souls of basically everyone who saw or rather experienced it somewhere. Especially now, in the midst of World-wide multiple challenges & crises, COVID pandemics, protests, fires, terrible wars, escalated overall crises saturated with fear, anxiety, illness, deaths, grief, and lots of stress and uncertainty, I hope that my HealingArts can become a tool for serenity, a place for refuge, and will truly bring healing to everyone in need.
As a “healing artist” I always feel it’s my “duty” to keep creating as much as I can to bring hope, colors, and healing to people.
This is exactly why I had another crazy (innovative) idea that I’ve been trying to manifest for several years, to make my healing art more accessible and affordable to basically everyone. I tried reproductions, prints, giclees, – it’s all been OK, but I wasn’t completely satisfied. I wanted to make my HealingArts wearable! This is how the idea of “Wearable HealingArts” came alive. It’s been taking about a couple years to get my Trademark (image 9), now I have my own “Label”, and you can already find about 500 various designer clothes, sportswear, homeware that I’ve created via 2 online Stores (see samples in image 10). But I’m not stopping here, I want to go further – to have my own website with my own Store where I can create my own Lines of clothes made out of my own HealingArts! I hope it will work. We formed a corporation, and we’re working on the brand-new website www.WearableHealingArts which will be coming live very soon. Stay tuned!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course, there were struggles along the way, both personally and professionally, through the various chapters of my life – which all brought me to the place and mindset I am at now today.
One of the big ones was coming to this country 30 years ago as a refugee from the Former Soviet Union bringing with me only my Jewish heritage, 3 graduate degrees, zero English, $100, 2 small suitcases, and an unending thirst to explore the World and its meaning. The next one was coming to NYC and trying to start my professional career there, with minimal English and being considered overqualified to any position I applied. It’s been there and then I’ve decided that I have to invent, create, develop and implement my OWN ideas and enterprises. The next one became trying to build my Dream – which was at that time – International Healing Centers to help people heal. I developed 3 culturally competent Clinics in NYC (was not easy!), successfully ran them, and was even featured on a front page of Metro Section of NYTimes with a big article about my Program H.E.L.P. at the Educational Alliance, NYC (1999).
There were many challenges before and after that too… You can read more in my several published articles and in a Chapter of a best-selling Book “We Are All In This Together” – https://www.bestsellingauthorsinternational.com/authorhelenkagan.
Creating, developing, and making my unique brand HealingArts™ sustainable – has not been an easy task, either. I’ve been facing the greatest challenges in treating my art as a business venue vs a hobby. I have been trying to bring my main focus into engaging Healthcare, Hospitality & Corporate Markets to utilize my “Healing Arts” for their environment. I still keep trying and I won’t give up! I developed a “HealingArts in HealthCare Initiative”. I applied for 4 years on a row for a Guggenheim Foundation grant with my unique business plan, proposals, etc., etc. for implementing my HealingArts into the Medical and Rehabilitation Centers, Halfway Houses, Hotels, and other Healthcare and Hospitality facilities. I keep doing all that because I believe in the healing power of art. Because I believe that art is a vehicle for well-being, and a catalyst for healing individuals, society, and environment. Because I believe that my HealingArts is unique, powerful, and can help heal the humanity.
Since COVID started to dangerously affect the World, in a midst of our turbulent crazy times, as a Light-worker I felt obligated to start creating new “life-affirming” art for healing. Sharing time between VT and FL, I’ve been working on several new healing Series – “Serenity”, “Serenity Blues”, “Peaceful Bubbles” and “Mountains of Vermont” – about 30-40 new artworks were created all of which present beautiful calming colorful serene landscapes, seascapes, colorscapes. The newest and a very powerful one is an artwork “Prayer For The World” which I was inspired to create when the Russia-Ukraine war began.
I am now dealing with a new challenge of scaling my business to a much larger level that I’ve ever done before – operating an online store via your own website that gives you an international access yet, puts many additional demands.
Even though I’ve had various collaborations in my career in the past, most of which were quite challenging and not always successful, I am now setting up a Corporation with a Board Of Directors structure which will allow me to truly scale my HealingArts™. The greatest challenge in bringing business to the next level is … to bring it to the next level 🙂
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Scientist, Psychologist, Engineer, Clinical Supervisor, Director, Program Developer, Healer, internationally published best-selling Author, Teacher, Coach, Artist, Healing Artist (not necessarily in this order…) What sets me apart is that I have been continuously integrating various disciplines (Science, Psychology, Healing, Art) to create my unique concept HealingArts™. That manifested in multiple Shows, Exhibitions, Articles, Awards, products, and services. And now I am setting myself apart again, by creating developing, and implementing a new, very unique concept Wearable HealingArts™ which can serve thousands and thousands of people all over the World.
In the last several years I participated in over 50 Juried shows, national and international exhibitions. My art won awards, shown in many physical and online Galleries, Cities, States, Magazines, Articles, International Catalogs, major Shows & International Art Fairs (SPECTRUM ArtBasel Miami, ArtPalmBeach, ArtEXPO NY), and always elicited a profound positive response. I was nominated and awarded (by Brickel Magazine, ArtTour International, VividArts Network, ContmporaryArtCurator, Art&Beyond Magazine, Artrepreneur.com, and others), was featured in TV & Radio Interviews, and even had a very unique Virtual Solo Show of my massive “One Woman Show” Solo Exhibition videotaped in Orlando with a live Interview while I was In Vermont.
In the last couple “pandemic years” I was published in a few Magazines and presented in several Podcasts communicating messages of healing and wellbeing:
* Featured Author in Authority Magazine “Women and Wellness. Helen Kagan of HealingArts on 5 Lifestyle Tweaks that Will Support People’s Journey Towards Wellbeing” – https://medium.com/authority-magazine/women-in-wellness-helen-kagan-of-healingarts-on-the-five-lifestyle-tweaks-that-will-help-support-ac0ae842e60c
* Featured Artist in Winner’s Journey Podcast. “The Power Of Healing Arts”. ArtTour International Interview with Viviana Puello – https://fb.watch/5KGh6XcE24/
* Podcast “Healing Path” with Laura Donelly. Helen Kagan HealingArts – https://youtu.be/e5hVZ1L0kKg
* Featured Author in Thrive Global Magazine: “Total Health: Laura Donnelly and Helen Kagan On How We Can Optimize Our Mental, Physical, Emotional, & Spiritual Wellbeing”. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/laura-donnelly-and-helen-kagan-thoughts-can-cause-emotional-changes-and-physical-changes/
* Featured Artist in Winner’s Journey Podcast @ ArtTourInternational. “The Power Of Healing Arts”. Create for Peace. HealingArts Presentation – https://fb.watch/5KGokW1I6w/
And finally… we were able to videotape a unique Virtual Show of my Orlando “One Woman Show” Exhibition “Colors Healing & Beyond” & Interview on a “Vis-à-vis” Podcast by Helen Kagan. The physical Exhibition of 100 artworks is on display in Orlando, FL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WycXvLN_q3E
To reach many more people in the world with my art, I am currently developing my brand-new concept Wearable HealingArts™ and creating unique products made out of my art, while integrating fashion, design, art & healing. I’ve already soft-launched the Wearable HealingArts™ in two online stores. And very soon, my HealingArts designer garments, sportswear, and homeware will be offered through the brand-new website – www.WearableHealingArts.com.
I believe in the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit. I believe that now, more than ever, the world needs positive energy and spiritually-based intentions, beliefs, and values. My passionate vibrant art called a “symphony of colors” is a statement of all my beliefs.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I think almost everything in my life is quite surprising… Some people might be surprised that I am a saged healing practitioner with multiple certificates in various modalities including Reiki, Yoga, Qi-Gong, Polarity Therapy, Cranio-Sacral, EFT, and others.
Others will be surprised that I have a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence. Others – that I have 3 Masters: in Engineering, Psychology, and Clinical Social Work. Others – that I am a Complex PTSD survivor who’s been successfully healing myself for many years.
Others – that I create unique HealingArts, attempting to integrate Fine Art and Art of Healing.
Taking care of my parents I have become a “snow-bird” – spend part of the year in VT and part – in FL.
When I was young one of my dreams was to jump from the airplane with a parachute. Due to PTSD – not anymore…
I am a dog lover, a nature lover, a Yoga practitioner for God knows how long! An avid dancer (my favorite is East Coast Swing & Lindy Hop) but I can enjoy all Latino dances as well. Crazy about “Trance-Dancing”, studied and done it multiple times in many beautiful places including Hawaii and France.
People could be surprised that my favorite instrument is Tenor Sax and when I have time, I learn to play it. And I know – when I have more time (???) I will be really good at it! 🙂
Pricing:
- Original Fine Artworks prices range between $500 (small) to $25,000 (extra-large)
- WHA garments and homeware products made from my original HealingArts works, range between $30-$500 depending on the Store
Contact Info:
- Email: info@HelenKagan.com
- Website: www.HelenKagan.com (a new website – www.WearableHealingArts.com is coming soon!)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenkaganarts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenkagan
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenKagan
- Yelp: https://www.pinterest.com/helenkagan/
- Other: http://helenkaganhealingarts.blogspot.com/
Image Credits
ArtTour International
Tony Smothers
LeGaleriste
Contrado
