Meet Our Team

Veronica Figueroa Velez

Heidi Figueroa Velez

Whether I’m sawing metal, threading beads, or frosting a cake, I’m searching for the same thing: connection.

My art is rooted in my lived experience as a Puerto Rican woman and as someone who has walked beside others during some of their most vulnerable moments. My years as a forensic interviewer and advocate have shown me how stories shape us—and how what we wear and the ways we adorn ourselves can become armor, memory, or a declaration.

Currently I provide supervised counseling through Edgewood University Marriage and Family Therapy program. This experience strengthens the connection between my creative practice and my commitment to helping people find healing, resilience, and a sense of belonging.

Jewelry and hairpieces aren’t simply accessories to me. They’re small monuments to resilience, crafted from silver, wood, glass, and whatever material calls to me that day. Sometimes they’re bold and loud; other times, they’re subtle. Each one is a gesture—a way of saying, “I’m here, and I matter.”

I’m equally at home with a sawing machine or a stand mixer. Cakes, like jewelry, are about celebration. They’re temporary, but they bring people together. It’s the act of making—shaping, transforming, and offering—that drives me, whatever the medium.

For me, art is about creating space for joy, strength, connection, and healing. Every piece I make is an invitation: to wear, to taste, to remember, and to dream.

Art is my bridge—from pain to healing, from isolation to community.

My journey began in Isabela, Puerto Rico, where I built and painted scenery for a church. That experience showed me how art could bring people together, strengthen community, and spark hope. The belief stayed with me when I moved to Madison and continues to shape my work today.

I received my formal art therapy training at Edgewood University and currently serve as an art therapy intern at Developing Artists Murals & Alliances (DAMA). In this role, I facilitate healing groups and provide one-on-one art therapy sessions, creating supportive spaces where people can process difficult experiences, reconnect with their strengths, and express what may be hard to put into words.

For more than 20 years, I have worked with victims of crime and witnessed how creativity can help people reclaim their voices and rebuild their lives. Through my small business, Art MVF & Design, I also lead healing art groups for individuals and organizations, using the creative process to support resilience, connection, and personal growth.

My Puerto Rican heritage and Madison roots inspire art that empowers, heals, and brings people together. I believe creativity can help transform wounds into strength while giving individuals and communities the freedom to imagine a more connected and hopeful future.

I also bring more than a decade of nonprofit leadership experience. I help organizations expand their funding and community impact by developing creative programs, writing competitive grant proposals, and building initiatives grounded in the needs and experiences of the people they serve. Across my clinical, artistic, and nonprofit work, my purpose remains the same: to use creativity as a path toward healing, belonging, and lasting change.