Dr. Bernie Siegel is the author of The Art of Healing: Uncovering Your Inner Wisdom and Potential for Self-Healing. Bernie retired from general and pediatric surgical practice in 1989, and has since dedicated himself to humanizing the medical establishment's approach to patients, and to empowering patients to induce their own healing.

After studying the use of crayon drawings by patients faceing life-threatening diseases, Bernie founded Exceptional Cancer Patients to facilitate self-induced healings. Bernie realized that we can aid our bodies' innate propensity to heal through what are currently seen as uncoventional practices, including drawing, visualization, dreams, love, and laughter.

You can learn more about Bernie's work and his books at berniesiegelmd.com and follow him on Twitter at @BernieSiegelMD.

Pat Schneider is the author of How the Light Gets In: Writing as a Spiritual Practice. She is the author of ten books including five volumes of poems, Writing Alone & With Others, and Wake Up Laughing: A Spiritual Autobiography. Her libretti have been performed and recorded at Tangelwood and in Carnegie Hall by Robert Shaw & the Atlanta Symphony. Her work has been featured on NPR, National Public Television, and fourteen times on Garrison Keilor's "Writers Almanac." Pat is the founder and director emerita of Amherst Writers and Artists and AWA Press. She is also an adjunct faculty member of Pacific School of Religion in the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. You can learn more about Pat and her work at www.patschneider.com.

Rev. Maggie Oman Shannon is an interfaith minister, spiritual director, workshop and retreat facilitator, and lifelong crafter whose passion is exploring the relationship between creativity and spirituality. Her newest book is Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation.

A former magazine editor and creativity coach, she is the the author of five previous books, including Prayers for Healing. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and young daughter (who also loves to craft), and currently serves at the Spiritual Director of Unity Spritual Center of San Francisco.

You can connect with Maggie on her website www.maggieomanshannon.com, Facebook and Pinterest.

Lisa Rasmussen is a transformative artist, educator, curator, and art advocate who truly believes and embodies the notion that art can change and heal the world. Lisa is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Art is Moving, and the 3rd Annual Art Break Day. Art Break Day is a communty art-reach event that offers thousands of people the means and space to connect with their community via the art-making process. She is also the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Art 4 All People and AY Atelier Art, an international sanctuary for arts and consciousness in Malibu, and in virtual reality.

In March 2013, Lisa was awarded Alumni of the Year from JFK University for her deep service to the Arts and Consciousness profession, and community. Additionally, Lisa pioneered an award-winning expressive art program for emotionally traumatized and abused youth, and developed a professional art gallery for the residents of Lincoln Child Center, a mental health faciity in Oakland, CA. She has also taught intuitive and expressive art to elders, at-risk teens, and has been an art coach for adults. In 2008, she was awarded Graduate Student of the Year from JFK University's Holistic Studies Program for her transformative work with the children at Lincoln Child Center, and for her MFA graduate solo exhibition.

Lisa is a professional artist, and her paintings are her spiritual practice. Her current work is being exhibited in various galleries in Los Angeles and San Francisco. You can connect with Lisa at www.artismovingnow.com, www.art4allpeople.com, and www.ayatelierart.com.

Timothy McLaughlin is a poet, teacher and the founder of the Spoken Word Program at the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS). This program empowers students to create original poetry – which incorporates Native languages and philosophies – and then perform that poetry for diverse audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. He and his students have received numerous awards and have been featured on many radio and television programs. You can learn more about the SFIS Spoken Word Program at www.sfisspokenword.org.Originally from Washington DC, Timothy has been teaching in Native communities since 1997. He was named the University of Virginia Madison House Alumni of the Year in 2007 for his dedication to service work. Timothy has also produced the poetry CD, Moccasins and Microphones: Modern Native Storytelling Through Performance Poetry, and is the editor of the book Walking on the Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School (Abrams Books 2012). His writing has appeared in several publications, including The Declaration and Radical Grace.

Elana Haviv is the Founder and Executive Director of the Children's Movement for Creative Education (CMCE). Elana is an education and human rights specialist. Through her flagship organization, CMCE, she has created academic and artistic programs to guide childrena and youth to understand and overcome the effects of violent world events on themselves and their communities, and to become global citizens. She designed The Telling History Project: Understanding the Past to Create the Future, a curriculum to teach students about human rights. After 9/11, Elana spearheaded the development and implementation of the art-based CMCE 9/11 Trauma Relief Project in New York City schools. She also continued to create art-based healing programs in post-war Bosnia. More recently, in response to Hurricane Sandy, Elana founded the Hurricane Sandy Art Relief Caravan Project which was recently featured in The Huffington Post article, Art Heals Heartache for Sandy Kids. You can learn more about CMCE on their website, childrensmovement.org.

Tim Carpenter is the founder of EngAGE, a nonprofit that changes aging, and the way people think about aging, by transforming senior apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness and creativity. EngAGE provides life-enhancing arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building and intergenerational programs and events to thousands of seniors living in Southern California.

Tim also catalyzed the creation of the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, a first-of-its-kind senior apartment community with high-end arts amenities and programs. The NOHO Senior Arts Colony and the Long Beach Senior Arts Colony will open in 2012.

In 2008, Tim was elected an Ashoka Fellow for being one of the top social entrepreneurs in the world. In 2011, he received the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award. He also serves on the board of the National Center for Creative Aging, and is the host and producer of the EXPERIENCE TALKS radio show.

Marney Makridakisis the author of Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life. She founded the Artella online community for creators of all kinds, and the print magazine Artella. A popular speaker and workshop leader, she created the ARTbundance approach for self-discovery through art. She lives in Dallas, Texas. Visit her online at artellaland.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/CreatingTime.

Lori Portka is an art creator and love radiator. Her artwork is made with an open heart carrying the intention to spread love and healing. Lori's designs appear on greeting cards, prints, calendars and magazines internationally, and reach other sweet souls who connect with her genuine and compassionate spirit. You can learn more about Lori and her A Hundred Thank Yous project on her website, loriportka.com, and follow her on Twitter at @loriportka.

Reminder: The nomination deadline for the Arts and Healing Network Award is May 15th. For more information, go to:www.artheals.org/projects/ahn_award.html

Christine Mason Miller is a Santa Monica based writer and artist who has been creating, writing and exploring since she was a little girl. Her mission to inspire has provided the foundation for all of her creative work. The desire to encourage others to pursue their passions and create a meaningful life is the common thread throughout an expansive body of work that includes mixed media collage, commercial illustration, photography, writing, teaching and speaking. Her latest book is Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World. You can learn more about Christine and her work on her website, christinemasonmiller.com, and connect with her on Twitter at @swirlygirl18.

"I believe color creates energy, and I believe energy creates inspiration, and then I think inspiration creates the change. If you can create color, which murals do, then you're making a massive impact." ~ Ricky Lee Gordon

Ricky Lee Gordon is a South African muralist and artist who goes by the name of Freddy Sam. He is the founder of three initiatives. The first is Write on Africa, a community art and inspiration project that creates murals and workshops in poor communities to uplift and inspire social change. Their philosophy is, "Inspire ourselves to inspire others to inspire change." The second project he founded and directs is A Word of Art, which includes an art space, art projects, and an international art residency program dedicated to celebrating new art and emerging young artists. The third is the Woodstock Industrial Center, a derelict industrial building in the heart of Woodstock, a suburb of Cape Town, where together with a willing landlord he has now brought in over 75 creative tenants. The building now has a coffee shop, skate park and bookshop, and hosts talks, exhibitions, movie nights, dinners and drawing evenings.

Ricky Lee is one of three recipients of the 2011 AHN Awards. The Arts and Healing Network is so impressed by his incredible creative vision and use of art to revitalize and transform his neighborhood of Woodstock.

To learn more about Ricky Lee's work, please visit his websites at www.writeonafrica.org and www.freddysam.com. You can also read an interview by Arts and Healing Network Director, Mary Daniel Hobson, with Ricky Lee on the Arts and Healing Network.