February 18th, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PST
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We invite you to explore how art, design, and cultural identity shape experiences in psychedelic therapy spaces. This Community Forum examines the intersection of aesthetics, accessibility, and therapeutic outcomes in psychedelic research and practice. What makes a psychedelic dosing space feel welcoming and supportive, and whose perspectives should guide these decisions? The visual elements of a therapy room – from,, artwork to lighting to spatial design – interact with participants’ spiritual beliefs, cultural backgrounds, and sense of identity in ways that may influence their therapeutic experience. As psychedelic research expands, creating clinical environments that feel accessible and affirming across diverse communities becomes increasingly important. We’ll discuss innovative approaches to space design, including community-engaged methods for selecting artwork and creating environments that honor multiple cultural perspectives. How might the intentional use of art and aesthetic design contribute to therapeutic outcomes, and what can we learn from collaborative approaches to designing research spaces? Dr. Cody Wenthur, Founding Director of Graduate Studies for the MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences – Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation program at UW-Madison will be interviewed by Owen Wheeler, MSc candidate in Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation at UW-Madison and Education Support Intern for the Chacruna Institute.,
Cody J. Wenthur has been a member of the University of Wisconsin – Madison faculty in the School of Pharmacy since 2018. He is the Founding Director of Graduate Studies for the MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences – Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation program, as well as the Education and Outreach Chair for the UW-Madison Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances. Dr. Wenthur’s research focuses on improvement of the treatment landscape for substance use disorders and psychiatric conditions through the discovery and application of biological and chemical tools that can modify maladaptive reward learning. Ongoing research efforts in support of this goal include a combination of pre-clinical,clinical, and community-engaged efforts to understand and optimize the value of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy approaches for the treatment of psychiatric illnesses; dissemination of expert knowledge regarding the actions of illicit and therapeutic psychoactive substances to student, expert, and lay audiences; advancing pharmacy practice through exploration of new pharmacy services for treating substance use disorders; and advocating for policy and procedural changes that will improve equality in access to care and health outcomes for common psychiatric conditions.
Owen Wheeler is an education support intern for the Chacruna Institute and a MSc candidate in Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Initially trained in social and cognitive sciences, Owen is most interested in psychosocial and sociocultural elements of psychedelics, including but not limited to epistemologies of efficacy; the knowledge and practices constructed around psychedelics by various communities; how art, language, symbolism, and culture permeate therapeutic processes; social stratification of access to psychedelic therapies and how this affects experiences and outcomes; pharmacovigilance/pharmacoeconomics; and naturalistic use/real-world efficacy. As a resident of Colorado, Owen is particularly interested in how these themes materialize in the context of state-regulated programs such as the Natural Medicine Health Act and how they affect the feasibility and longevity of such programs.
