Leonilda Conti is an academic painter and has an MA in Fine Arts. She is also an art therapist who specialized in art therapy in Osijek (2022), Croatia, with the theme: 'A heuristic investigation into the intersectional aspects of the Self, an art-based exploration.' Leonilda is a polyglot and is proficient in multiple languages, including Italian, English, German, Portuguese, and Croatian.

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In 1995, she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in the Italian city of Bergamo, where she participated in the Open-studio project at the mental hospital in Bergamo, keeping it open for patients. She studied evangelization and Catholic religion for a year at the International Academy of Evangelization (IAE) in Altoetting, Germany.  The next two years she lived in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. There, in the favelas and impoverished suburbs, she was a FIDESCO volunteer and conducted creative workshops for underprivileged children, a project of social interest for the prevention of early pregnancy. After that, she worked for two years as the head of the International Youth Center near St. Peter's Square (Vatican), welcoming young people from all over the world, for the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

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In 2005, she moved to Osijek in Croatia and worked as a museum educator, organizing workshops and pedagogical activities at the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek. She has special interest in art therapy in the context of the museum and aims to foster a stronger connection between the museum and its visitors. This approach aims to provide a more diverse range of exhibitions and educational opportunities, enhancing the overall museum experience.She paid particular attention to people with disabilities, including visits and workshops for the blind, for children with Down syndrome, users with psychiatric patients, and students of the Ivan Štark school. She also worked with disadvantaged people, including children and young people from the Klasje institute, elderly people from the hospice, and the association of elderly people. In 2016, she became the director of the same museum, promoting the museum space as a space for personal and social growth of its users. The activities and programs had a community interest, both for children and for people of the third age. The art therapy studio, completed in 2022, was intended to further her interest in creating alternative therapeutic spaces to clinical or hospital practice.

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In 2020, she moved to Milan with her family, maintaining an intense volunteering relationship in Osijek during the summers of 2022-2023 at the Inkluzija Association of Osijek. Since 2023, she has been a volunteer at the psychiatry department of a Milanese hospital, offering her voluntary collaboration at a compulsory school with a strong multicultural presence and at a therapeutic employment center for adults.

 

Memberships:

Croatian Art Therapy Association (HART)