A graduate of Drexel University’s Creative Arts Therapies program, Kelsey Jordan’s clinical background is rooted in Art Therapy and Counseling. She firmly believes that creative expression in all of its forms is inherently healing, and recognizes Art Therapy beyond the act of creating visual art. In her clinical work, Jordan encourages clients to view Art Therapy as simply the act of thinking creatively, abstractly, and metaphorically because when doing so it enables one to better understand, discuss, or revise their life narrative. Jordan’s identity as a Black woman is woven into her practice and informs her areas of focus. As a person with multiple marginalized identities, she greatly values the role of multiculturalism within a relationship. Centering multiculturalism within her work is a rich experience allowing for: honoring and affirming one’s diverse identities, processing how identities influence one’s lived experiences, and exploring the many ways in which one’s identities intersect with and are understood in context to the identities of others.
Sarah Kodish-Eskind works as an art therapist in Philadelphia. She believes in relational work, authenticity, and strives for collective liberation in both her personal and professional life. She earned her MA in Art Therapy and Counseling at Drexel University and holds a BFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Pre-pandemic, Sarah hosted Make Night, free and open access community gatherings supporting creative practice and connection. She has worked as an arts education advocate for Philadelphia public schools and developed events supporting local emerging artists. She currently offers individual therapy, develops workshops for creative based self reflection, and enjoys her own art practices.
Laura Mina (she/hers), Associate Conservator of Textiles & Head of Textile Lab, Winterthur Museum; Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation
Laura Mina joined Winterthur as the Associate Conservator of Textiles and Head of Textile Lab in 2017. She is responsible for the preservation, treatment, exhibition, and enhanced understanding of textiles in the collection, which has particular strength in printed textiles, needlework, furnishing fabrics, and quilts. As Affiliated Assistant Professor, Mina teaches textile conservation in the WUDPAC Master’s Program. Before joining Winterthur, she worked with The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mina received an M.A. in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a specialization in conservation, and a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. Her research interests include conservation ethics, the cultural contexts of textiles, and the chemistry of textile cleaning.
Karen Patterson (she/hers), Curator, The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM)
Karen Patterson joined FWM as their inaugural curator in July 2019. Prior to this appointment she was the Senior Curator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC), curating over fifty exhibitions, including major exhibitions such as Lenore Tawney: Mirror of The Universe, Ray Yoshida’s Museum of Extraordinary Values, Ebony G.Patterson: Dead Treez, several critically-reviewed site specific installations such as Joy Feasley and Paul Swenbeck: Out, Out, Phosphene Candle, Things are What We Encounter: Dr.Charles Smith + Heather Hart. Her focus at JMKAC was also geared towards the curation of the Arts Center’s premier collection of folk art, self-taught art, and artist environments, work that culminated in a collaborative 2017 collections-based exhibitions series, The Road Less Traveled, which received praise by Hyperallergic as the year’s top exhibition. She completed her BA in folklore studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, and her Masters of Art Administration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Publications include Lenore Tawney: Mirror of the Universe (2019), Eugene Von Bruenchenhein: Mythologies (2017), Lee Godie: Self-Portraits (2015), and Ray Yoshida’s Museum of Extraordinary Values (2013).
