Good morning that was great [laughter] welcome to washington dc. I know that you all have been here for two days now. And i hope that you have been enjoying this day in our nations capital. Thank you, for the kind introduction. It is great to have you and the rest of our countries mayors under the same roof to discuss and learn how we can make our Community Even better. Thank you for your service. [applause] i was saying backstage it is so wonderful in your organization where you all can get together and share ideas she when i was a first lady of indiana, the National Governors association would have conferences once and twice a year and it was so great to not have to reinvent the wheel. And to be able to say what can i do in my short time as first lady . And so, i applaud you for coming and sharing all of your ideas with each other. But for me it is a pleasure to be here to share about a little bit of what is near and dear to my heart. As a second lady of the United States i chose one initiative. To champion, and it is art therapy. I call my initiative [applause] we call it art therapy, healing with the heart. Now art therapy, many of you know about it but the definition according to the American Art Therapy Association is a Mental Health profession that uses the Creative Process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and Emotional Wellbeing of individuals of all ages. It is not arts and crafts. [applause] thats right. And the therapist have a minimum of masters degree and frequently a doctorate degree. They help a client get to the root of his or her problem or issue and works the client through it with the use of part. I just was in cairo and they have one Art Therapist in egypt. She has done a ted talk. I try and tell people an Art Therapist opens the book but then an Art Therapist also helps them close the book. So we dont want anyone just opening the book he does know how to close the book. When i first became aware of our therapy within 10 years ago and i visited tracy his kids Pediatric Art Therapy Program at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center here in washington dc. And they are, i saw young Cancer Patients who were eager to come back for their next cancer infusion. I mean, i was so amazed that you would have children saying mom, when do i get to go back to the hospital . You know, i have a masters degree in art education. I taught for 25 years. And 12 of them as an elementary art teacher. And i am a watercolor artist. But i am not an Art Therapist. And i know that. Because an Art Therapist must be an expert in human development, psychology, counseling, theories and techniques. However, i didnt know that i wanted to get involved. So i joined the board of chases kids in 2011. And that is based here in washington dc. They provide Art Therapy Programs for children with cancer. Just judgment cancer in hospitals around the country. We are now in five states and we have been programs. But around the same time that i joined the board of chases kids, that is when mike was a congressman. I did i wanted to bring art therapy back to indiana. And i wanted to bring to riley hospital for children at iu health in indianapolis. I served as the honorary chair of the Art Therapy Initiative to raise money to bring Art Therapists to the hospital. Because frequently, art therapy is not funded by the hospital. It is privately funded. It took us about five years, raising money to be able to now and doubt to fulltime Art Therapists at the hospital. Since starting my role as second lady of the United States, i have participated in discussions with Art Therapists and their clients and observe Art Therapy Programs throughout the United States and in countries in europe, the Asia South Pacific region, latin america and most recently, the middle east. I just returned this week from egypt, jordan and israel. Where he met with Art Therapists in those countries and it was a great trip. Did you know, that in israel, there are 7000 Art Therapists . I mean, i was stunned but i have learned more about the profession and the benefits of this unique treatment. From children with cancer, to struggling teenagers. We have a real issue with suicide with our teenagers all over the world. To grant families, people with autism, military service members. Experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder. To those with eating disorders. Art therapy is changing lives. And i will go as far as to say, art therapy is saving lives all over the world. [applause] and now the fun part of my talk. I will share with you some of my stories. I heard some incredible stories. Like the ones i heard shortly after thanksgiving when i travel to new york city. I met with doctor irene who is our therapy work in new york included years of work with clients affected from 9 11. Irene showed me artwork they had produced over several years starting with the immediate aftermath of 9 11 work that you artwork created in recent years. And the artwork as a whole, as im sure that you can imagine, shows a transition from images of ash and debris, clouds and buyers. To now, nature scenes. The work went from dark and murky to more colorful and helpful. Reflecting resiliency and a sense of wellbeing. For many years, irene held an annual display of some of the artwork on the 9 11 anniversary. And by doing this, she provided healing for the broader community. Irene also shared several pieces of artwork created by a woman dealing with medical challenges because of 9 11. Many of this womans pieces of art featured images of the statue of liberty. And early in our process, the statue of liberty appeared covered in dust. And looked sad and depicted isolation. But over time, the images changed until the clients stopped depicting the statue of liberty and created an image with a big strong rainbow. And the client says she stopped seeing Better Things and now enjoys seeing color and creating artwork that now feels and looks very peaceful. But this was a woman who wasnt there when the towers fell. She was someone whose job was to measure the air quality. But, since she was there during this whole process, she now is suffering and probably wont be around much longer. But she is someone who they told me that she cannot wait to go to group session. And she works really hard to be well enough to attend her art therapy sessions. But the fascinating thing about art therapy, is that the art somehow actually changes our brains. When i first started helping riley to come up with the funds for an Art Therapist we realize we just didnt have enough research. We can see that these children wanted to go to the hospital. There is something to that story. But we did not have the quantitative research. And as you all know as mayors, a lot of times we dont get funding for things unless you can show numbers. But last fall, i helped kick off the two day Creative ForcesClinical Research summit. By hosting a breakfast at the Vice President s residence. It was for experts in the Creative Arts therapy field. And it was a chance for me to thank the participants for the work that they are doing and express my support for research to advance art therapy. Doctor thomas nationally recognized Clinical Neuroscience subject Matter Expert that specializes in traumatic brain injury and Psychological Health conditions, was at the breakfast. He works at Walter Reed National military Medical Center in maryland. And he discussed with me, how Creative Arts therapists and researchers are beginning to see an association and emerging patterns of genes being turned on and turned off as they respond to using Creative Arts therapy. In other words, art therapy is changing the brain. Actually healing the brain. And then not too long ago, i visited iu health center. And i met with juliet king who we have become good friends. She worked closely with neuroscientists and other medical professionals. They are combining science and art to conduct research and learn more about the processes that occur in the brain during the art making process. Juliet believes this will provide the foundation for further study of how and why art therapy is effective in helping people heal. Juliet works with clients who have different neurological conditions. I met some of the clients. Like dale, who was in a car accident. That has impacted the functioning of the left side of his body. Dale shared that he prefers art therapy to verbal therapy. Because he is able to let go as he does art therapy. Art therapy has helped with some physical challenges that dealt based following his car accident. For example, even if he is righthanded, he does art therapy work with his left hand to help engage some of the physical difficulties that he is experiencing on the left side of his body. While he also, when doing art therapy is working through emotional challenges. But ive heard some other amazing stories. Last fall i traveled to Tampa Florida to attend a Creative Forces summit. In florida, the Creative Forces program has two programs. One is the traditional Art Therapy Program but one is a Telehealth Program to try and bring art therapy to more service members. Including those who may live far away from a military installation. For those of you who are mayors of maybe a more rural community, i was astounded that these are therapists were so excited about a telehealth Art Therapy Program. With this it is just doing wonders. During my visit, i met with several vets including marine chris stowe. He was amazing. Chris said, i can say, without reservation, that art therapy saved my Mental Health, my marriage, and ultimately, my life. I was on the verge of giving up on ever getting better. Until i found art therapy. And i continue to use art therapy to this day. But chris demonstrates his commitment to art therapy by advocating for more veterans to know about the healing power of art therapy. And our veterans, a lot of times, they do not want to try our therapy. It does not sound like something they are very tough and they are very strong and they cannot imagine that the arts would be something that would help them. A lot of times its it to us, i am not good at art. You do not have to be good at art for art therapy. So chris reaches out to these vets because he is one of them. And he also teaches glassblowing to veterans at studios in florida. An example of the military art Therapy Community trying to bring more art making opportunities to veterans. During a visit to barracks in hawaii where they have Creative Arts programs for service members, spouses and children, i spoke to a soldier who had experienced suicidal thoughts. The thing about the barracks and this is maybe an idea some of you might take with you. They have opened art sessions for the families. And so, the veterans come in and they get started and they see their family enjoying this and then they can focus on getting the veterans into an Art Therapy Program. But this young man said that he was suicidal to me. He told me that art therapy helped him. And he said, i dont go to that dark place anymore. He specializes in working with clay. And he actually started a program where the community could come to the local museum and just work with clay. And this ability to help so much with the healing process, i ask an Art Therapist, why is clay so powerful . And she told me that when you work with clay, there is nothing between you and the art making process. There is no pencil, no paintbrush, and she said clay touches the area of the brain dealing with memory. Because you are working with it. So clay can be a powerful art supply. When people are dealing with any kind of trauma including a natural disaster. After hurricane marie in puerto rico, the Vice President and i traveled there to provide support and encouragement. I had a chance to meet with an Art Therapist working with children in a homeless shelter that had been impacted by the storm. But before i got there i had my staff reach out and say, if there is something we can bring. Is there something she needs us because we can bring supplies on the plane. She said she could not get her hands on clay. And she really wanted the children to work with clay as a way to help them and cope with the devastation. And i knew, we are onto a good Art Therapist here. She knows what shes doing. It was a great privilege to be able to bring her and the kids clay. So we took clay with us on air force two and delivered 120 pounds of clay to her and the children. I got everything that they had of the air dry clay. There are so many powerful stories. Some examples of art therapy. An example is how we can rally as a community to help people heal and i applaud all of you for wanting to do that. By making art therapy my initiative, i have three goals. I met with and lot of experts in art therapy in the medical field and we all got together last may and i said, lets talk about some ideas. And they had a lot of ideas but i knew, my time is limited and i want to focus on ways that we can really help art therapy. First of all, i want to elevate the profession. I want people to understand that these are Mental Health professionals. They really know their stuff. I was at a dinner several months ago and the person next to me said, what is your initiative . I said art therapy. She said, thats nice. And we did not talk about it anymore. And i thought, that is what Art Therapists feel like all the time they are so misunderstood. It is not arts and crafts. These are people who are experts in Mental Health. So i want to elevate their profession. I want people to understand these are amazing people. But number two, if we do the job of getting the word out for art therapy, then we will need more Art Therapists. And so i want to encourage young people to go into the profession. To know that this is something you might want to do. And lastly, i want people to understand that this is an option. It is an option for all kinds of issues which we have talked about today. All of us are dealing with some kind of pain. And sometimes, a therapist that we can talk to helps us. But it might just be an Art Therapist. It might be the person that you can work with. In cairo, when i met with the Art Therapist, they had worked with some people and they were on a four day program. People had gone through terrible torture and trauma. It was stunning to me to hear the stories of how fort intense days change these peoples lives. So sometimes it is not even something you need to do long term. But art therapy, i hope you have seen with some of my stories, is saving lives. And i encourage you to reach out to the American Art Therapy Association and we have Art Therapists all over the country. If you want to see how you can help, that is the best way. It is the best way to elevate the profession. And sometimes the Art Therapists in your community might say we just need art supplies. It is an expensive profession. Infrequently they are properly funded. There is a real need for the communities to get behind them and help them raise money for their profession to survive. I just encourage you to foster the connections in your own communities. I applaud you because i understand this is you are all here because you care about the arts. What a beautiful thing to take art and save someones life. Thank you. [applause] [applause] help Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also spoke at the us conference of mayors winter meeting. Her remarks the