West Virginia University Institute of Technology student awarded grant to help provide art therapy on campus

Fayth Laxton, a forensic investigation major at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, describes herself as an “art kid” despite being in STEM. She is using her love of art and the calming effects it can provide to help her fellow students stay away from substance abuse through utilizing art therapy, thanks to a grant awarded to her by the Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success Youth Empowerment Grant. 

According to an article on West Virginia Institute of Technology’s website, Laxton has been given $7,500 to purchase art supplies like paint, canvases, and brushes and to plan events that will take place in residence halls on campus to invite her fellow students to participate in relaxing art projects and walk away with a finished project, as well as with information about mindfulness and wellness resources at the school.

Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success is a grant-funded program through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that aims to help curtail substance misuse and abuse in college-aged students in southern West Virginia. 

Laxton has been working with Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success since the summer as she needed a job and money to help pay for school and was given the opportunity to write a grant for the first time. Drawing on childhood experiences of using art as a way to help calm herself down when she was stressed or upset, Laxton decided to pursue the idea of introducing a form of art therapy on campus.

Of her art therapy idea, Laxton said, “I feel like not only does it [art] help with mindfulness, but it’s an activity that doesn’t necessarily feel like you’re doing a mindfulness or wellness thing. You don’t always like to be reminded that you’re doing something specifically for your mental health. It’s something that students can do that’s not competitive, something that you do for yourself.”

Laxton is very involved on campus. She is currently serving as president of Tech Alliance and vice president of First2Network, Student Government Association, and Forensic Investigation Association. She finds advocacy and helping others a “natural fit” for her, and will gain advocacy tools through working with Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success and through the art therapy grant. 

After college, Laxton will pursue a career in law enforcement as a crime scene investigator, and will use her love of advocacy to help out people who have become crime victims. 

For more information about West Virginia University Institute of Technology, visit the school’s website.