Artist and Art Therapist Sone-Seere Burrell was born & raised in Richmond, VA. She has always had each of her creative fingers in a different artistic venture. From an early age, she has felt a strong connection with creative expression and is grateful that her family cultivated a childhood full of artistic experiences for her. Majoring in Graphic Design & Technology and dancing as a member of the E. Gwynn Dance Company, she graduated summa cum laude from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro North Carolina. It was during her time at A&T when she was drawn to painting through a Color Theory course requirement she wouldn’t have otherwise sought out. That course would begin a journey through color mixing, portrait work and healing that continues today. “It was the painting process that would ultimately pull me from the depths of a very dark time in my life. Art making has and will continue to be central to my healing process.” - Sone-Seeré

 

Relocating to Upper Marlboro Maryland circa 2004, she became an educator teaching various courses in art, design, communication and technology in Prince George’s County Public Schools and District of Columbia Public Schools. She began to see a meaningful link between art and the students she taught who often sought a listening ear. She decided to study counseling and art therapy. Sone-Seeré earned a Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Walden University and a Masters in Art Therapy from The George Washington University. Since then, she’s worked in a number of capacities with children and adults in private practice, various school systems, psychiatric facilities and in the community.

 

Sone-Seeré is a member of and former Committee Chair for Social Media for the Pierians Incorporated, a national organization dedicated to the promoting and encouraging the study and enjoyment of the fine arts. She returned to her home of Richmond VA some years agoand served as Dean of Students and as a Crisis Response Teacher in Henrico County. She went on to join Henrico Doctors Hospital and residential treatment facility for adolescents as an art therapist and Churchill Hill Academy teaching art. She then went on to work at a residential rehab treatment facility for individuals struggling with substance and gambling addiction and provided outpatient therapy t WHOA Behavioral Health in Richmond, VA. Currently, Sone-Seeré serves as a professor and Clinical Placement Coordinator in the art therapy department at The George Washington University. 

 

Her passion for the arts and mental health fuels her drive to share the healing power of the expressive arts with others. Whether she’s exploring through her own art process, recording her painting through videos set to music, hosting paint parties, sewing apparel and accessories, leading therapeutic painting classes, or providing creative outlets for expression with teenagers, the art process is central to her life!