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. shanina’s 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, glasswork, metalwork, and "safe space” installations help convey their intent for communal wellness and healing.
Committed to mental health advocacy, shanina piloted a tuition-free “Expressive Arts Healing” program at the Fleisher Art Memorial for BIPOC and multicultural communities. Recognized by Philadelphia Magazine for “creating positive spaces for mental health conversations,” shanina partners with organizations like DBHIDS, the Barnes Foundation, Penn Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as national brands like LIFEWTR.
In 2016, shanina founded the non-profit youth arts program, ARTbuds Philly, and in 2018, received the inaugural TDC20 Grant from Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. A 2023 Black Artists Fellow with Mural Arts Philadelphia, shanina has an international presence with exhibitions and workshops, including a virtual showcase in Athens, Greece. As a recent Temple University graduate, they continue exploring the intersections of arts, humanities, psychology, and social change. This fall (2024), shanina will begin graduate studies in Art Therapy & Counseling at Drexel University.
Art helped save my life. I simply desire to pay that forward.”
- shanina dionna
Photography, Sarah Alderman.