she/they
(b. 1988. Oahu, Hawaii)
shanina dionna is an interdisciplinary artist, mental health advocate and non-profit arts educator based in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Since 2012, their art exhibitions have helped raise mental health awareness through the visual and performing arts; chronicling their growth journey. Their art for social change practice is rooted in personal narratives regarding medical diagnoses for mental health disabilities, therapy treatments, relational dynamics, and community building - adding reference and value to their research on connection, accessibility, and the human condition. Earth-based portrait paintings, somatic movement, improv performances, film, photography, botanical therapy, and "safe space” installations help convey their intent for communal wellness and healing.
In 2016, shanina dionna founded the youth visual arts program, @artbudsphilly (on Instagram), in partnership with and housed at the Urban Art Gallery, West Philadelphia. In 2018, they became one of twenty artists worldwide to receive the inaugural TDC20 Grant (The Dean Collection 20) presented by Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. In a 2020 interview, Philadelphia Magazine recognized them as the “Philly artist creating a positive space for mental health conversations.” They are a certified PCEA facilitator (Person-Centered Expressive Arts) and in May 2021 they launched an independent Expressive Arts Healing practice facilitating for children, teens, adults, schools, and cultural organizations. As of April 2023, shanina dionna is a Black Artist Fellow with Mural Arts Philadelphia.
“ Art helped save my life. I simply desire to pay that forward.”
- shanina dionna
Photography, Sarah Alderman.