09/23/2026
As many of you have heard, Tracy Councill, passed away peacefully on Friday, September 4, 2026, in her home in Richmond, surrounded by her beloved art, family, and cats. Tracy was a GW alumna, faculty member, supervisor, and employer who connected with and influenced so many art therapists through her passion for art, art therapy, and her clients. We greatly miss her warm smile and easy laughter, but will continually feel her presence.
Below is information from her family regarding the celebration of life service, information from Kristin Ramsey for a community art installation in honor of Tracy, a drop box link where you can upload photos that will be shared with her family, and a last reflection that Tracy wrote.
Celebration of Life
Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 2 pm EDT
The Church of The Holy Comforter, Episcopal
4819 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230
Art Show & Reception: Tread Softly
Sunday, October 4, 2026 from 4 to 6 pm EDT
Roslyn Conference and Retreat Center
8727 River Road, Richmond, VA 23229
Community Art Project
From her love of silk hoops, and with added inspiration from the silk hoop chandelier installment she created with patients and then hung in the Georgetown Hospital lobby, we will be using paint markers and decorating blank CDs to hang in a similar fashion. The finished project will live in the church where the funeral will take place, and where she led so many community and child art projects during her time in Richmond.
For those attending the celebration of life, you will have an opportunity to create a CD there or bring a completed one. For anyone not able to attend, you can either pick up a blank CD at the GW Art Therapy Program campus, or below is a link with ideas and to purchase the CDs. Please make sure the GW Art Therapy Program receives your art by October 1st:
Attn: Tracy Councill Art
GW Art Therapy Program
1925 Ballenger Ave., Suite 250
Alexandria, VA 22314
Link to CDs:
https://a.co/d/0iTUiJLd
Drop Box for Photos
https://www.dropbox.com/request/ph1cgp5ho1uq1uoff4qf
Tracy’s Reflection
Heaven is not for the Worthy
By Tracy Councill | June 25-28, 2026
Heaven is not for the worthy, it's for the loved. If there is such a thing, we all get in if we want to, because every single one of us is loved. That's the good news. I have never longed to go to heaven when I die. It's already where I live. I've also spent many hours in what seemed a living hell. Hell might be for everyone too. I guess that's the bad news. Heaven is Earth, when it is loved.
I have cultivated beauty, found love, put myself at the mercy of compassion, and worked to bring that compassion to everyone I meet. I have eased suffering when I could, and found great joy in doing so. I have done my best to be mindful of the stranger. I have made mistakes too numerous to count, but they don't add up to much, because I haven't saved them.
I love children more than anything. I have loved being a mom, and working with kids, and I love simply watching kids in the neighborhood as they go about their lives. I have practiced my art through it all, filling my eyes and heart with places and people I want to see. My imagination takes me to heaven every day. If I have to leave all this behind, I will be mad. I wanted 20 more years—and why not? If I get more years, this will still be just as true, but it is the threat of nearing the end of my life that sends my mind in this direction.
I am only in control of how I respond to this moment. I didn't cause it. I don't want it. I reject it out of hand. But if I must go, you all must carry on loving and serving and creating. Tend your gardens. Make your art. Make music. Make friends whenever you can. And I hope some of your friends are kids, because kids are the most fun.
