The Van Gogh Project was designed by Michelle Cotrina and her Creative Peer Support and sibling, Misa Kelly.  The two decided to use their middle names for the project, Leilani & Miele.

 The intention of the project was to create a forum for Leilani to raise an awareness with regard to what it is like to live as a largely institutionalized artist.

It was also the intention to provide opportunity for Leilani to spiral up and grow by plugging into her primary passion and sense of lifework.

That of being an artist.

The project is multi-year, with the dream of traveling to NYC together in order for Leilani to visit the museums and take classes in NY. To travel to Paris, to see museums there, and draw in Paris, and to paint the same countryside that VanGogh did.