The goal of this qualitative research study was to explore and articulate the content, pedagogy, and intersections of art education and art therapy in art classes in two alternative high schools. Like other alternative schools, these sites serve students who are labeled at-risk and who are taught by art teachers who may have minimal specialized education to work with this population, but who have developed strategies, pedagogies and coping techniques for working with these challenging students. Phenomenological methods of data gathering were utilized, including participant observation, interviews, informal conversations, and document review. Arts-based research practices included (1) the creation of visual reflections as thematic analyses of school visits and subsequent critical reflections of visual field notes, and (2) a written play that presents the research findings in dramatic form and constructs the story of art education from the perspectives of the two art teachers and multiple students in two alternative Midwestern school sites.