Participatory Artist · Educator · Facilitator

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The Importance of the Work

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Self-expression is one of the most human things we have.

For over two decades, I’ve worked as a professional artist dedicated to creative expression—and for more than a decade, I’ve helped people reconnect with themselves and with one another through participatory and educational practices.

 

Through a wide range of expressive tools—creative writing, visual art, sound, movement, and dialogue—my work explores the inner world and the ways we communicate what can’t always be spoken.

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I’ve seen how creative expression becomes a tool for psychological resilience: helping people process emotion, confront inner conflict, and rediscover languages of feeling, intuition, and connection that exist beyond words.

 

My practice is about creating environments where people can communicate authentically, build empathy, and remember that expression itself is a form of healing—whether that happens in a classroom, a park, or across a neighborhood wall.

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What I Offer

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Participatory & Public Projects

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Each project begins as a conversation and evolves through collaboration—shaped by the people, place, and purpose it serves.

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Every experience is uniquely designed in response to the community or context, drawing from a range of expressive and participatory methods to explore communication, emotion, and connection.

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Whether through visual art, writing, sound, movement, or dialogue, the focus is always on interaction, reflection, and collective growth.

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Some projects culminate in murals, installations, or designed environments, while others unfold as workshops, performances, or ongoing conversations that give form to collective thought.

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Workshops & Education

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Interactive programs that explore expression and communication as tools for awareness and connection. Participants engage in creative exercises—ranging from visual art and writing to sound, dialogue, and movement—to deepen self-understanding and strengthen interpersonal communication.

 

Workshops can focus on themes such as emotional expression, focus and attention, self-reflection, relationship building, and collaborative creativity. Each program is adapted to the setting, whether it’s a school, museum, wellness center, or community organization.

 

 

Consultation & Speaking

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Talks, trainings, and collaborative program design grounded in lived experience and years of facilitation in educational, community, and correctional environments.

I work with organizations to integrate expressive and communicative methods into their programming—helping foster creativity, empathy, and emotional resilience among participants and staff alike.

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Outcomes & Impact

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Across community settings, institutions, and public spaces, my participatory work consistently produces outcomes that extend beyond the moment of creation. These projects function as social infrastructure, activating connection, collaboration, and shared meaning through creative engagement.

 

Common outcomes include:

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• Community Building

Participants form genuine connections through shared creative experience, often across age, background, and social roles. Art becomes a neutral ground where individuals feel safe to participate without prior expertise.

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• Teamwork & Collective Problem-Solving

Group-based creative processes encourage cooperation, listening, and shared decision-making. Participants learn to navigate difference, uncertainty, and collaboration in real time.

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• Networking & Relationship Formation

Projects regularly bring together individuals, organizations, and informal groups that were previously unconnected, creating new relationships that extend beyond the project itself.

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• Increased Community Engagement

Participatory formats lower barriers to involvement, drawing in people who may not typically engage with arts programming, institutional spaces, or formal community initiatives.

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• Creative Literacy & Practice

Participants gain direct experience with creative processes—learning how expression, reflection, and making can function as tools for communication, regulation, and meaning-making within social groups.

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• Bridge-Building Between Communities & Networks

My work often serves as a connective thread between individuals, institutions, and community networks that had no prior relationship

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Impact in Practice

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Rather than producing static outcomes, these projects create conditions:

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• Conditions for dialogue without pressure to perform

• Conditions for expression without judgment

• Conditions for presence, listening, and mutual recognition​

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Participants frequently report a renewed sense of belonging, agency, and connection—not because they were taught something, but because they experienced something together.

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Institutions benefit from programming that:

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• Activates public space in meaningful ways

• Strengthens relationships with communities they serve

• Aligns arts engagement with wellness, education, and civic goals

• Creates long-term relational value rather than one-off events

• —supporting collaboration where none previously existed.

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Audience & Partner Benefits

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My work is designed to adapt to the needs of different audiences while maintaining a consistent participatory foundation.

 

For Art Museums & Cultural Institutions

 

• Deeper audience engagement beyond passive viewing

• Programs that activate exhibitions, spaces, and public interfaces

• Expanded reach to new and non-traditional audiences

• Alignment with education, access, and community engagement goals

 

For Mental Health & Wellness Organizations

 

• Non-clinical, trauma-informed creative engagement

• Accessible pathways for expression beyond verbal processing

• Group experiences that support regulation, connection, and resilience

• Programming that complements existing services without replacing them

 

For Community Organizations & Municipal Partners

 

• Strengthened social cohesion and cross-community dialogue

• Low-barrier participation that welcomes diverse publics

• Creative frameworks for collaboration and collective problem-solving

• Visible, lived expressions of community values​

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​Experience

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​​​For more than a decade, I’ve facilitated community-based self-expression projects across multiple states in the U.S.—working with schools, arts organizations, and public agencies to foster creative dialogue and collective growth.

 

From 2016 to 2024, I served as an expressive-arts consultant at the United States Penitentiary, ADX Florence, where I facilitated collaborative art programs that combined visual expression, dialogue, and experimentation. The work centered on communication, interaction, and growth within one of the most isolated environments in the world.

 

Before my time in the federal system, I led large-scale public murals and collaborative art programs throughout Colorado and beyond, using collective creativity to build connection and dialogue.

 

My broader practice spans over 30 years of visual expression and over 20 years as a professional artist—exploring how creativity supports resilience, reflection, and social connection.

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Today, I continue to partner with museums, schools, and wellness organizations nationwide to design participatory experiences that strengthen communities and reimagine what freedom and connection can look like in public space.

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Bio

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Matte Refic is an educator and participatory artist exploring self-expression as a pathway to resilience and human connection. His work bridges creativity, psychology, and social design—transforming expression into a shared language of healing and understanding.

 

Based in Colorado, Matte develops participatory and public projects that invite communities to imagine, build, and communicate together—turning expression into a collective act of transformation.

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