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Art Heals. Art Saves. Art Matters.
The River Moon Foundation provides art supplies to mental health facilities—because creative expression isn't a luxury. It's a lifeline.
The Problem
Art Supplies in Crisis Care Are Underfunded
In August of 2025, I spent several days voluntarily in a hospital unit. Like many people experiencing mental health crises, I was encouraged to attend group activities designed to help patients regulate, ground, and reconnect with themselves. One of those groups was arts and crafts.
It quickly became clear why. In a place where language often fails, art offers another way through. People who struggled to speak could still paint. People who felt numb could still move their hands. People who were frightened could still create something contained, personal, and real. Art was not enrichment. It was stabilization.
At the end of one session, I went to rinse some leftover acrylic paint down the sink. A nurse quickly stopped me and asked if I could instead scrape it back into the bottle as carefully as possible. She explained that the art supplies patients rely on are often purchased by the nurses themselves. Budgets are limited. Materials are rationed. Every ounce matters.
Even in spaces dedicated to keeping people alive, art is treated as expendable. Something extra. Something nice, if there's room. We believe it belongs where it is needed most.
That moment stayed with me—not because of my own experience, but because of what it revealed. For my sibling River, art was never optional. It was how they processed illness, identity, pain, joy, and the world itself. Art was their catharsis. Seeing it rationed in a place where people are fighting to survive made it impossible not to act.
Our Mission
Bringing Art to Those Who Need It Most
The River Moon Foundation collects and distributes art supplies to psychiatric facilities, crisis centers, and inpatient mental health units. We believe that creative expression is essential to healing—and that no one in crisis should be denied access to it because of budget constraints.
How It Works
1
Collect
We gather donated art supplies from individuals, businesses, and organizations.
2
Organize
Supplies are sorted, packaged, and prepared for distribution to facilities in need.
3
Deliver
We partner directly with mental health facilities to get supplies into patients' hands.
Our Values
🎨
Art as Essential Care
Creative expression is not a luxury—it's a vital part of mental health treatment and recovery.
💜
Dignity in Crisis
Everyone deserves access to tools that help them heal, regardless of their circumstances.
🤝
Community Support
Healing happens in relationship. We're building a network of people who care.
✨
River's Legacy
We honor River by ensuring others have access to what helped them survive and thrive.
Get Involved
How You Can Help
Right now, we're focused on collecting art supplies to donate directly to mental health facilities. Every paintbrush, every sketchbook, every set of colored pencils makes a difference in someone's recovery.
Supplies We're Collecting
New or gently used supplies are welcome.
🎨
Acrylic paints & watercolors
🖌️
Paintbrushes (all sizes)
📓
Sketchbooks & drawing pads
🖼️
Canvas boards & paper
✏️
Colored pencils & pastels
🖍️
Markers & crayons
✂️
Scissors, glue, mod podge
📿
Beads, clay & craft supplies
Ready to Donate?
Contact us to arrange a supply donation or ask questions about the foundation.
RGMfoundation@hotmail.com
We'll coordinate pickup or shipping. Every contribution helps us bring art to people who need it most.
Can't donate supplies? Share this page. Help us spread the word about the importance of art in mental health care.
River was an artist, a dreamer, a fighter, and a soul who understood the complexity, joy, and pain of the world around them. They were nonbinary, proudly trans, and unapologetically themselves—a person who found beauty in fountain pens and gemstones, who filled their world with music from Alexisonfire to Phantogram, who loved Avatar: The Last Airbender and all things creative and gentle.
Born with a craniopharyngioma, River navigated a lifetime of medical complexity with grace and resilience that most of us will never understand. They came out at 25, stepped fully into their identity, and bloomed at Plymouth State University, where they pursued dual degrees in Art (BFA) and Museum Studies (BS). They were beloved by classmates, respected by professors, and just one semester away from graduation when they left us. The university awarded River their degree posthumously.
"I navigate the boundaries between collage, mixed media and painting, constructing visual landscapes that invite open interpretation. My process is one of intuitive exploration, where found objects, layers of paint, and fragmented paper coalesce into textured surfaces."
— River's artist statement, Plymouth State University
River loved cats—especially their cat, Little Girl. Babies and animals gravitated toward them because they radiated gentleness. They collected the finer things: high-end headphones, fountain pens, beads, rocks, owls in every form. Their humor was sharp. Their heart was soft. They fought harder than anyone knew.
River's Art
Visual Landscapes That Invite Interpretation
River's work spoke in layers, textures, and patterns—visual landscapes that invited interpretation without demanding it. Their art was both meticulous and intuitive, structured and free.
River left us on June 4, 2025, after years of navigating health challenges that most people will never understand. They carried more than anyone should have to carry.
The farther we get from that day, the more we miss them. The more we realize what a light they were—complicated, beautiful, irreplaceable. They deserved more time. More art. More joy. More everything.
The River Moon Foundation exists because art mattered to River—and because it matters to everyone fighting to survive.
Help Spread the Word
Share this page to help us reach more people who want to support art in mental health care.
