Art Over Destruction®

What is CalmLab™?

CalmLab™ is an evidence-informed emotional regulation environment that turns underused school, healthcare, and community spaces into dedicated places where young people can pause, regulate, and return ready to learn.

Each space combines calming visuals, creative tools, sensory supports, and simple guided strategies so students build practical self-regulation skills they can use for life.

CalmLab is not a timeout or disciplinary room. It is a proactive learning environment that protects instructional time while helping students re-engage with confidence.

What Happens Inside a CalmLab™?

When a student becomes overwhelmed, CalmLab gives them a structured place to pause, use proven tools, and regain control—then return to class.

Students practice real skills for managing stress, improving focus, and building resilience through creativity and sensory supports.

It is a learning space, not a timeout room.

The CalmLab™ Reset

Four simple steps. Lasting impact.

1. Enter — Student enters the CalmLab space.

2. Regulate — Guided tools reduce stress and restore balance.

3. Reset — Focus and self-control return.

4. Rejoin — Student returns to class ready to learn.

One goal: Help students regulate, reset, and return—while protecting valuable instructional time.

CalmLab™ Is Designed For

🏫 Schools — Support regulation while protecting instructional time.

🏥 Healthcare — Create calming environments that reduce stress for patients and families.

🏛 Community Organizations — Build creative wellness spaces that strengthen resilience and social-emotional skills.

Why Now?

Utah has made student well-being a statewide priority.

The 2025 Utah SHARP Survey shows encouraging progress: lifetime marijuana use fell from 9.5% to 6.2%, vaping experimentation dropped by roughly one-third, and serious consideration of suicide declined 28.4%.

Even with these gains, schools still need practical tools that help students regulate emotions, stay connected, and re-engage quickly. CalmLab was created to meet that need—providing a ready-to-use environment where students can pause, reset, and return ready to learn.

Source: Utah Department of Health and Human Services, 2025 Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) Survey.

CalmLab™ Pilot Results

Internal Pilot Evaluation (November 2025–February 2026)

• 200+ student sessions

• 3.2 minutes average reset time

• 84% functionally re-engaged within 5 minutes

• 89% positive student outcomes

Source: Art Over Destruction. Internal CalmLab™ Pilot Evaluation, November 2025–February 2026.

Trusted by Organizations Supporting Utah Youth

Together, we're helping build calmer classrooms, stronger students, and healthier school communities.

Leadership

Meet the team leading Art Over Destruction's mission to empower the next generation through creativity, education, and innovation.

BASHA Nisar

Founder & Executive Director

Founded: 2012
Students Served: 20,000+
Programs Delivered: 14+ Years

Selected Recognition

• Featured in Salt Lake Magazine, 15 Bytes, and Voyage Utah

• Published in Art of Everyday Joe and Art for the People by Michael K. Corbin

• Creator of Absgraff® (Abstract Graffiti)

• Presented at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington

• Artwork exhibited internationally across Beijing, London, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, Montreal, Chicago, and throughout the Intermountain West

• BASHA is the Founder and Executive Director of Art Over Destruction, a Utah-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit he established in 2012 while attending the University of Utah.

• Guided by the belief that creativity transforms lives, BASHA has grown Art Over Destruction from grassroots community art workshops into an innovative nonprofit serving more than 20,000 students through schools, healthcare organizations, and community partnerships.

Hamza Shariff Nisar

Vice President

Founded: 2012
Students Served: 20,000+
Years of Service: 14+

Hamza Shariff Nisar serves as Vice President of Art Over Destruction, a Utah-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to empowering young people through creativity, education, and innovation. Since joining the organization in 2012, he has helped shape its growth through program development, community partnerships, youth engagement, and organizational leadership.

Over the past 14 years, Hamza has helped expand programs that have reached more than 20,000 students through schools, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, and community partnerships. His work supports the development and delivery of evidence-informed initiatives that strengthen creativity, emotional well-being, STEM learning, and student success.

In addition to his nonprofit leadership, Hamza serves as Creative Director of 801 MADE®, where he leads branding, design, and creative strategy. His experience in visual communication and community engagement continues to strengthen Art Over Destruction's public identity and long-term impact.

As Vice President, Hamza provides leadership across programming, operations, partnerships, and organizational development, helping advance the organization's mission of empowering the next generation through creativity and innovation.

Art Over Destruction®

Utah-based 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization

1066 E 2100 S, Suite 11

Salt Lake City, Utah 84106

Programs

CalmLab™ Emotional Regulation Environments • Creative Regulation Labs • Creative STEM Education • Educational Technology (EdTech) • Youth Arts Access

Helping schools and communities build calmer learning environments where students regulate, reset, and thrive through creativity, STEM education, and educational technology.

ArtOverDestruction.org • contact@artoverdestruction.org

© 2026 Art Over Destruction®. All rights reserved.