*This year the National Performance Network (NPN) celebrated another annual conference, which has now been presented for more than 35 years. Among the coveted invitees was EURweb’s LaRita Shelby, who presented her unique spin on debunking mental health stigmas in a workshop titled “Good Crazy, Bad Crazy & Crazy Crazy.”
Shelby is a multi-disciplinary artist and media professional who is now a proud teaching artist. For seven years LaRita has conducted a drama program at a mental health facility for teens in the Los Angeles area. She combines a huge dose of humor in her sessions that combine theatre history, analysis of pop-culture and therapeutic role-playing. The fun factor is so high that her students describe her as “crazy,” which LaRita retorts is the good kind of crazy, the kind that won’t hurt you or anybody else.
Shelby is also penning a book titled “Good Crazy,” which is an extension of her work in the mental health arena and an overview of mental health, from the recreational & therapeutic aspects presented with performing arts to the undercurrents of mental health that are not a laughing matter where serious intervention is required. Actor Clyde Jones (Kings of the Evening, Coming 2 America) joined Ms. Shelby as a special guest in her presentation.
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NPN is described as a vibrant network of artists and organizations advancing racial and cultural justice through the arts. The NPN Conference 2019 attracted over 350 arts leaders, which included fine artists, writers, dancers, producers, artistic directors, partners and funders such as Art2Action, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, the HAYTI Heritage Center, Creative Capital, Doris Duke Foundation, Ford Foundation, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Native American Community Development Institute, Mellon Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts and many more.
For more on the National Performance Network visit: NPNweb.org. The festival’s official artwork “The Weeping Willows” was designed by Katrina Andry. Caitlin Strokosch is President and CEO of NPN. She and her entire organization are committed to curating the arts, and partnerships that cultivate their evolution and exposure around the globe.
https://youtu.be/n5W3s1SjPm4
LaRita was supported in her mission at NPN by Dr. Loren M. Hill from Acclivity (where she is a clinical psychologist specializing in private counseling, Psycho-diagnostic testing, trauma and autism) and Dr. Cherilyn Lee’s Nu Wellness Healthcare which provides a personalized wellness plan, state of the art assessments and diagnostic tools and integrated medicines and treatments. Contact Dr. Hill at (323)825-6273 and contact Dr. Lee at (877)204-6298.
