July 14, 2026

On May 23, 2026, the Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) department, McGonigal Academic Resource Center (ARC), Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA), and the Drexel Counseling Center unveiled the completed McGonigal ARC Mosaic, following a yearlong collaboration between the varying departments. The mosaic will reside in the newly renamed Patrick McGonigal Academic Center within the Korman Center Lobby on the University City campus.

The mosaic process began in the fall 2025 quarter, following the annual plate smashing event hosted by the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA), where students had the opportunity to confront their fears and anxieties about the upcoming quarter by writing them on ceramic plates. After inscribing their fears onto the ceramic, students smashed their plates to symbolize the release of their stressors. Following the event, the smashed pieces were salvaged by USGA to be used in the creation of the mosaic. Graduate students in the Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) department also worked with the McGonigal ARC to organize a collection drive to gather more materials to use in the mosaic.

“USGA has participated in the plate smashing event for years with Drexel’s counseling department. When I learned about it, I was beginning my partnership with the Creative Arts Therapy Department at the McGonigal ARC, and I thought they could help us reimagine the smashed pieces [into something great]. So, we were destined to work together [at some point]!” said Rebecca Weidensaul, PhD, assistant vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success.

Over the course of three workshops hosted by the CAT department during the quarterly StudyJawn events hosted at ARC, participants were invited to assist with the completion of the mosaic by adhering the broken plate pieces, and other objects to the color coordinated board to create a sunrise. Workshop participants reported enjoying this process, many describing it as meditative, regulating, and fun. A handful of students even found a piece of their plate to add to the mosaic.

“We live in a remarkably rich mosaic city [Philadelphia’s Mosaic Garden] and there is such an inspiring view about the art of reinvention and repair based on kintsugi. In my mind, this was translatable to human growth, just growing through it when you go through it,” Weidensaul expressed.

Following the participation of students and visitors, the mosaic was returned to the Creative Arts Therapy Studio in the Health Sciences Building for the graduate students and professors to complete the mosaic.

"Community care often grows out of small acts of participation. Every person who selected a piece, shared a story, or added an object helped create something larger than themselves. For me, the mosaic is a visible reminder that wellbeing is not only an individual experience, but also something we build together,” said Denise Wolf, MA, associate clinical professor in the creative arts department.

The mosaic served as a demonstration of how discomfort and anxiety can be repurposed into something positive and the power of working toward a collective and common goal.

“Projects like this remind me that the arts have a unique capacity to foster connection, belonging, and mutual support. In creative arts therapies, we often talk about creativity as a resource for wellbeing, but in this project, we saw and felt that resource emerge collectively. Students engaged in problem-solving, collaboration, and imaginative play while building relationships with one another and with the ARC as a community space,” said Wolf.

The mosaic will be on display in the Patrick McGonigal Academic Resource Center (ARC), in the Korman Center Lobby located at 15 S. 33rd Street for the remainder of the year.

Written by: Myleah Herbert '25