Institute for Therapy through the Arts

01/15/2026

Bring your brightest crew and join us for a night that’s equal parts laughter and impact. 🧠✨

ITA’s 3rd Annual Trivia Night at Double Clutch Brewery is your chance to enjoy friendly competition, win fun prizes, and help expand access to vital mental health care through creative arts therapy.

Sunday, Feb 15
Doors 4:00 PM | Trivia 4:30 PM
$40/person • Teams of 4–5 • Welcome drink included

Every ticket supports ITA’s work—helping individuals and families create, grow, and heal through art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapy.

🎟 Register: https://itachicago.regfox.com/ita-trivia-night
(link in bio)

01/14/2026

Access to healing through the arts depends on continuity—and your support makes that possible.

We’ve now raised over $50,000 for ITA’s Fall Appeal ($56,730 toward our $100,000 goal). Thank you. And in January, every gift is still matched dollar for dollar thanks to a generous matching donor.

✨ Give (matched): https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

📝 Prefer to pledge? Pledges are open through Jan. 31: https://itachicago.regfox.com/2025-fall-appeal-pledge-form

Your support helps sustain art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapy with care, dignity, and consistency.

01/01/2026

As we begin a new year, we want to pause and express our sincere gratitude.

We are deeply thankful for the community that supports access to healing through the arts and helps strengthen the care we provide through art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapy. Your support plays an important role in ensuring this work is offered with intention, dignity, and consistency.

We are honored to walk alongside the individuals and families we serve and grateful to begin this year together—grounded in care, creativity, and connection.

01/01/2026

⏳ Tonight matters.

As the final hours of the year unfold, we are closing a critical chapter in ITA’s Fall Appeal—and determining what access to healing through the arts looks like in the year ahead.

Recent funding cuts threaten the availability of art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapy for individuals across the lifespan. A year-end gift made tonight—or a pledge submitted before midnight—helps ensure these essential services continue with care, dignity, and continuity.

This is the moment to act.
This is the moment to stand for access to healing through the arts.

✨ Make your year-end gift before midnight:
https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

✨ Or submit a pledge for the year ahead:
https://itachicago.regfox.com/2025-fall-appeal-pledge-form

12/31/2025

⏳ Less than 12 hours remain to make your tax-deductible year end gift!

As this year draws to a close, so does a critical opportunity to protect access to healing through the arts.

Recent funding cuts threaten art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapy programs that support individuals across the lifespan. A year-end gift to ITA helps ensure these services remain accessible—grounded in care, creativity, and community—when they are needed most.

There is still time to act.
There is still time to stand for access, care, and continuity.

🧡Make your year-end gift:
https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

🧡 Or make a pledge for the year ahead:
https://itachicago.regfox.com/2025-fall-appeal-pledge-form

Your generosity—given today or pledged for tomorrow—helps carry this work forward.

12/30/2025

We’re building meaningful momentum toward our Fall Appeal goal—and there are just two days left in 2025 to make a tax-deductible year-end gift.

Together, our community has raised $43,067 toward our $100,000 goal. Every gift made by December 31 is eligible for 2025 tax benefits and is matched dollar for dollar, thanks to a generous anonymous donor supporting our Fall Appeal.

Your support ensures continued access to creative arts therapy for children, adults, and older adults in the year ahead.

✨ Make a tax-deductible gift before December 31:
https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

If you’re unable to give before year’s end, you may also choose to make a pledge toward our January 31 goal:
https://itachicago.regfox.com/2025-fall-appeal-pledge-form

Thank you for helping carry this work forward—steadily, purposefully, and together.

12/23/2025

As the year comes to a close, we invite you to hear directly from our CEO about why this moment matters for ITA—and for the individuals and families we serve.

Healing doesn’t follow a single path. Sometimes it emerges through rhythm, movement, art, or story—meeting each person where they are and opening new ways forward.

These moments are essential—and they are made possible by supporters like you.

This fall, we are working to raise $100,000 to ensure creative arts therapies remain accessible across the lifespan, especially as mental health resources face growing uncertainty.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort so far. We invite you to help carry this work forward. 🧡

Give today. Double your impact.
🔗 https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

12/18/2025

Caregiver support matters—and that includes fathers raising children with visible and invisible disabilities.

Within our own leadership, we see firsthand how deeply personal this work can be. Our CEO serves on the board of a father-focused caregiver initiative and is also a parent of a child with special health needs. That lived experience reinforces the importance of peer connection, shared learning, and community-based resources for families navigating complex journeys.

Raising awareness is one way we can continue to center family well-being and caregiver support in our broader community.

Learn more about father-focused caregiver resources here:
🔗 Got4titude

A father helping like-minded father's raising children with disabilities through Got4titude. Click to read Got4titude, by Kirby Rabalais, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

12/17/2025

We’ve crossed an important milestone! ✨

Thanks to the generosity of our community, ITA has surpassed $30,000 in our Fall Appeal. This progress strengthens access to creative arts therapy and affirms the role of the arts in healing, connection, and care across the lifespan.

Our work continues. With a goal of $100,000, there is still ground to cover—and matching gifts remain in place to double the impact of every contribution.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort so far. We invite you to help carry this work forward. 🧡

Give today. Double your impact.

🔗 https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

12/15/2025

✨ Early Bird Registration is Now Open! ✨

Registration is officially open for ICAT 2026: Moving Mountains — and early bird pricing is available for a limited time. Join us in Evanston (or virtually) as we gather creative arts therapists, educators, and advocates to explore how creativity drives meaningful change.

🎟️ Save 25% on your conference registration with code 2026CANARYCAT
⏳ Early bird pricing closes February 13, 2026

Secure your spot today:
🔗 itachicago.org/conference

12/11/2025

✨ Your gift now carries twice the impact. ✨

Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, every contribution to ITA’s Fall Appeal will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $50,000.

That means:
💛 $25 becomes $50
💛 $50 becomes $100
💛 $75 becomes $150
💛 $100 becomes $200
💛 $250 becomes $500

Every gift brings us closer to our $100,000 goal and helps protect Creative Arts Therapy for more than 3,000 Chicago Public School students.

In a season shaped by generosity and community, this match opens a powerful door for healing and hope.

Double your impact today:
🔗 https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025

12/02/2025

Now more than ever, we are called to make a difference.

Each year on Giving Tuesday, millions around the world show up, give back, and spark a wave of generosity that reaches far beyond a single day. Today, we join that movement with a mission close to home: protecting access to creative arts therapy for the children, teens, adults, and older adults who rely on ITA every week.

With federal funding cuts threatening $1.4M in essential support, your gift becomes a lifeline. It helps keep art, dance/movement, drama, and music therapy available in classrooms, community centers, assisted living centers, and our own clinic in Evanston.

We invite you to be part of this global generosity and our local impact. Every gift makes a difference.

Together, we can safeguard the healing power of the arts.

Give today: https://itachicago.givingfuel.com/fallappeal2025
Submit a pledge: https://itachicago.regfox.com/2025-fall-appeal-pledge-form