From the HIES stage and studio to a multifaceted creative life in Brooklyn, Anna Kampfe ’15 continues to build a career rooted in imagination, compassion and connection. A former musical theatre performer and visual artist, Anna is now a freelance illustrator, writer and licensed creative arts therapist in New York, blending artmaking and psychotherapy to support clients of all ages and backgrounds. In this conversation with Heidi Domescik, director of Fine Arts, Anna reflects on their favorite HIES roles, the role of creativity in advocacy and healing and the many ways an arts foundation can evolve into a deeply meaningful life’s work.  

You were deeply involved in musical theatre and visual art at HIES—how do you still see the performer and artist in yourself showing up in your work as an art therapist today?

I'm a freelance illustrator, writer and art therapist, which certainly keeps me busy! I actually recently co-directed a TV pilot with my partner, who won the award for best screenplay for the same script at The Phoenixville Film Festival a year ago. I've also continued to work locally and nationally with other artists and companies on projects like character designs for children's shows, album covers (shout out to Trav!sty, an Atlanta musician, who I went to high school with!) and social media animations for marketing materials. I also work as an art therapist, using art as both a therapeutic and a diagnostic tool. Hopefully, I will be a registered art therapist with the national board soon, but for now, I am proud to be a licensed creative arts therapist (LCAT) in the state of New York, working with clients of all ages and backgrounds after specializing in trauma and development at NYU for my master's degree.

With "SpongeBob the Musical" opening at HIES this week, I have to ask—what was your favorite role or production during your time in HIES theatre, and what made it so memorable?

Tough call, but it's between The Minstrel in “Once Upon a Mattress” (who wouldn't want to pretend to strum a lute constantly, while attempting a cockney accent), and Jennie Mae in “The Diviners.” Jennie Mae was probably the role I would say I really connected with the most emotionally, but I did enjoy all my comedy roles, too. “The Diviners” was also the last show I worked on with Prather Rehm, with whom I actually became great friends in New York after we both moved to pursue school there. We still manage to get together every so often when my mom is in town to catch up!

You’ve been a powerful advocate and educator around thriving with diabetes. How did creativity, storytelling or the arts help you connect with and support others both in the HIES community and beyond?

Having a strong diabetic community made a huge difference for me growing up. It normalized it to such a degree that I was surprised to find so many people had never even heard of diabetes when I got to college, let alone understand what having an autoimmune disorder from an early age is like. I'm still friends with some of my diabetic buds, many of whom I met while doing musicals and plays at HIES. I've worked with a few diabetics as an art therapist, and I am interested in doing studies with art therapy to better understand comorbidity with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, etc., and type 1 diabetes to hopefully help people who weren't as lucky as I to have so much support. As I say to patients and colleagues all the time, the art never lies!

As an art therapist, you invite clients to explore emotions through both conversation and artmaking. What’s one creative intervention or practice you find especially meaningful—or surprisingly powerful—in that process?

Lately, I've been enjoying engaging people in what I call "creative timelines." I'm a big fan of combining narrative therapy practices and art therapy directives to help patients explore how they connect with their own history. The basic idea is to ask a patient to reflect on a certain time in their life or their whole life, if they so choose, and draw a line on a page that feels reflective of that time. This can be especially helpful when discussing grief and processing change. Some people draw lines with little peaks and valleys, some draw what looks like spaghetti, but no one ever makes the same line. It's simple, but especially for patients who are hesitant to make art or need a simpler container for big feelings, this is a great start!

For HIES students who love the arts but aren’t sure a traditional performance or studio path is right for them, what would you want them to know about the many ways creativity can become a meaningful life’s work?

Truth be told, being an artist is hard, but it is so needed right now. Art heals, unifies and tells truths. Art doesn't have to be perfect; it just has to mean something to you, and you have such a long, exciting life ahead with so many possibilities. So, try everything, every medium, every path, because you never know where your artmaking will take you or where your big idea could come from.  I never considered that a personal fascination with psychology could be combined with art, but here I am doing a job that is fulfilling. The best part is that I get to still be an artist, too.