How art helped Chaparral, New Mexico youth explore mental health
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Editor’s Note: Thanks to support from the Puente News Collaborative, Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative hosted an engagement event focused on youth mental health on Jan. 23 in Chaparral, located in southeast Doña Ana County. An organizer with NM CAFé helped coordinate attendance by local teens. Teens were treated to a quick dinner to set the stage for an evening of art. Artist and workshop coach Raquel Madrigal guided youth on how to create artsy zines expressing mental health, while SNMJC engagement coordinator Loren Schoonover spotlighted our youth mental health reporting series that examined both the challenges and possible solutions around this complex issue. SNMJC extends our gratitude to everyone who helped make this event possible and to the teens who attended.
CHAPARRAL — When I planned a mental health zine workshop for teens in Chaparral, New Mexico, I hoped a handful of young people might show up.
Forty-five walked through the door.
As an instructor, my goal wasn’t to lecture about mental health or ask students to disclose personal struggles. I wanted to offer something gentler and more empowering, a way to process emotions through making. Zines, small handmade booklets created from folded paper and collage, are perfect for that. They’re imperfect by design. There’s no right or wrong way to make one. That freedom removes pressure and invites authenticity.
I set out supplies, magazines, markers, paper scraps, glue, prompts, and gave a short introduction about storytelling and self-expression. Then I stepped back.
Teens who arrived shy or unsure began flipping through images, tearing words from pages, sketching, and layering textures. Some worked alone, fully immersed in their thoughts. Others collaborated, trading supplies and ideas. Conversations started naturally. Not forced discussions about feelings, just organic connections that grew out of the creative process.
One student wrote affirmations in bold red marker: “I will find someone that likes me.” Another created a soft, minimalist cover using silhouettes of branches against pink paper. Someone else assembled a surreal collage of fragmented faces that felt like a visual representation of anxiety. The artwork ranged from delicate to chaotic, but every piece felt deeply personal.
What struck me most was how seriously they took it.
In a world where teens are constantly pulled toward their phones, this group stayed present for hours. Phones sat untouched on tables. Heads were down. Hands were busy. The room felt calm, almost meditative.
As someone who works in both creative spaces and mental health–adjacent community work, I’ve learned that young people don’t always need advice. Often, they just need space. Space to think. Space to feel. Space to make something that belongs entirely to them.
This workshop gave them that.
Chaparral is a rural community where access to arts programming and mental health resources can be limited. I’m always aware of that reality when I plan events like this. Creative opportunities aren’t just enrichment, they’re outlets. They’re coping tools. They’re sometimes the first step toward putting language to emotions that feel overwhelming.
By the end of the night, the tables were covered in paper scraps and dried glue, but the energy in the room had shifted. Teens were flipping through each other’s zines, laughing, sharing, and complimenting one another’s work. There was pride there, not just in what they created, but in the fact that they created it together.
As an instructor, moments like that remind me why I do this work. Not because the projects are polished or perfect, but because they’re real. All we needed were some basic supplies, a welcoming room, and permission to express what’s usually kept inside. Forty-five teens showed up ready to create.
What they really did was show up for themselves and for each other. And honestly, that’s more than I could have hoped for.