Episode
Healing Through Art at the Homeboy Art Academy with Fabian Debora and Barbara Fant
- Podcast
- The Homeboy Way
- Published
- Mar 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2240
- Processing state
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Summary
When Tom Vozzo first walked into Homeboy Industries more than 12 years ago, he was skeptical. “Shouldn’t we be doing work here at ‘Industries’?” he wondered, seeing art classes throughout the building. In this episode, Tom sits down with Fabian Debora, Executive Director of the Homeboy Art Academy, and Program Manager Barbara Fant to explore how art reaches wounds words cannot and why creativity is central to Homeboy’s model of healing and belonging. Fabian shares how, as a child hiding from domestic violence, drawing became his refuge, a sanctuary that carried him through addiction, recovery, and ultimately national recognition as a Heritage Fellow with the National Endowment for the Arts. Barbara reflects on losing her mother at fifteen and turning grief into poetry, using verse as both prayer and therapy. Through the Art Academy, rival youth create side by side, guided by Fabian’s Three R’s: Reconnect, Re-identify, and Reimagine. Key Takeaways Art is refuge As a child, Fabian learned art did not just express him, it held him. Hiding under a coffee table from violence, he found safety and hope. That same refuge is what the Art Academy now offers every young person who enters. Mentorship restores what shame steals. When a teacher destroyed Fabian’s artwork, Father Greg Boyle saw him for who he truly was and gave art back. That moment of being seen and reassured that his gift mattered changed everything. Poetry can be prayer. At 15, without therapy, Barbara turned sermon notes into poems, using them to grieve, pray, and make sense of losing her mother. Healing is intentional. The Art Academy practices a healing-centered approach: circles, reflection, the three R’s, creative exercises aligned with specific aspects of healing, and structured closing reflections. Identity…