Your Facilitator

Meet Shayna

I’m a certified expressive arts practitioner living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia — on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples. As a settler on this land, I’m committed to a practice of ongoing honouring, learning, and showing up better.

I started Art Cafe to create spaces where people can authentically shine through expressive art-making — where connection, reflection, and creativity can meet.

Professional background

I completed my expressive arts training at the Vancouver School of Healing Arts.

My practicum experiences included working with a range of communities — children in elementary schools, self-identified women and families at the YWCA Crabtree Corner, and adults facing life challenges associated with HIV, cancer, and hepatitis C at Vancouver Friends for Life.

For 3.5 years, I worked as an expressive arts practitioner at a local care home, supporting older adults with complex care needs, including dementia, physical disabilities, and end-of-life care. It was a great joy and privilege to be in creative relationship with that community.

I hold a Bachelor of Design from York University/Sheridan College in Toronto, where I focused much of my study on creative confidence — the belief that everyone is innately creative, and that creativity is less about making “good” art and more about how we approach the world.

Practice philosophy

I love the work I do. My training in expressive arts has deeply transformed the way I live my life. I’m endlessly grateful for the practice and honoured to share it with others.

My approach is collaborative — co-creating spaces that are safe, inclusive, and non-judgemental. I’m here to listen, explore, and create alongside you.

The values that guide me are slow, intentional, and humble — principles that shape how I move through my work and my life.

Beyond the studio

Art-making is also my self-care practice. My own creative process helps me stay grounded and deepens my capacity to be present with others.

I’m most inspired by the natural world — by the textures, colours, and rhythms of it all. When I’m not facilitating, you can usually find me rock collecting, tending to my houseplants, or swimming in the ocean.