Ashes2A.R.T. was the brain child of Captain Buck Best with the Behavioral Health Department of Fairfax County. Captain Best serendipitously crossed paths with artist Kathy Sullivan (MAAT) who created a platform specifically providing the creative arts as a preventative wellness initiative for first responders. Ashes2A.R.T. is a first responder driven program which has organically grown to address 7 objectives; 

1) to provide a safe fun platform for expression and stress relief to decrease cumulative stress

2) to influence individual expression and choice sometimes lost in this protocol-driven profession 

3) to explore other identities outside the first responder world through a variety of media and skills 

4) to promote cohesion through bonding with all disciplines of the first responder world on one platform regardless of rank or position

5) to provide applicable and experiential Amygdala Regulating Techniques for relief of stress and trauma

6) to provide a safe intermediary platform between peer support and therapy to learn how to debrief  

7) to fully listen, explore, then advocate for the most effective wellness strategies for first responders