Arts and Health

From Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona: The Pima County Health Department and the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona are partnering on a series of five free art and wellness events this September and October to promote community healing through art.

These family-friendly “Celebrate SaludArte” events will bring together public art and public health and feature community-inspired artwork, live performances, food trucks, raffles for prizes, and health resources. Artists also will unveil their temporary art installations at each celebration, which will be held in each of Pima County’s five supervisory districts.

SaludArte is a collaborative project between the Health Department and the Arts Foundation to find ways in which community engagement, health, and art can intersect to amplify the voices and experiences of the community, while also helping to increase health equity, access, literacy and COVID-19 mitigation across the region.

From the CDC Foundation: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on all aspects of life, including the arts and culture sector. However, artists and cultural organizations have also played a crucial role in the vaccination effort. Although vaccination is a key element in overcoming the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have become significant challenges to achieving high levels of vaccine uptake. In this report, we explore how arts and culture have been utilized to promote vaccine confidence, dispel myths and misinformation surrounding vaccines and support vaccination efforts in the United States.

From PBS News Hour: The blend of science and art is called neuroarts or neuro-aesthetics. The new book, “Your Brain On Art: How The Arts Transform Us,” shows both the growth and importance of the field that connects the arts and our health. Jeffrey Brown visited the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore to see the progress for our arts and culture series, CANVAS. Watch the full episode here.

From Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing: In this event we will make the case that the arts can support the wellbeing of all. We will present exciting research of how this can be enabled opening new horizons and creating new possibilities. 

We will launch our manifesto of the Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing and our strategy of how to scale up place-based arts initiatives that can support mental health and wellbeing, and will benefit a wide range of people including individuals and communities that are disadvantaged or marginalised. 

We will showcase the work we have done in areas with high levels of health, social and economic inequalities offering opportunities for people to connect no matter where they are based.

We will highlight the contribution the arts can make in supporting the care of carers including our work with communities and organisations locally, nationally and internationally.

From NeuroArts Blueprint: In the 15 months since releasing the NeuroArts Blueprint in December 2021, the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative has made important strides in our shared understanding of how the arts can be used to expand the boundaries of medicine. The March 2023 Progress Report updates our collective efforts to implement the recommendations and action steps detailed in that foundational document.

This work and plans for future action steps were the focus of our March 13, 2023 webinar, Building the Field of Neuroarts, presented by the initiative’s codirectors, Susan Magsamen (Johns Hopkins University International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics) and Ruth J. Katz (Health, Medicine & Society Program of the Aspen Institute).

Join Public Health Grand Rounds at the Aspen Institute for a lunchtime book talk on Monday, on March 20, 2023 at 12pm at the Aspen Institute in D.C.. Author's Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross discuss their new, ground-breaking work, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. "Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us shares the new science behind humanity's evolutionary birthright — to make and behold art and its power to transform our lives.

From Aspen Institute: Join us Monday, March 13 at 12:30pm-1:30 pm (EDT) for a webinar to review the progress and future plans of the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative.

Dedicated to strengthening the essential role that the arts can play in advancing health and wellbeing, neuroarts has captured the attention of an expanding network of researchers, practitioners, arts groups, health providers, and other public sector and private sector organizations. We are honored to serve as a hub for the growing body of knowledge they are generating, and to act as a catalyst to inspire more.

In the year since publishing the NeuroArts Blueprint in December 2021, we have made important strides in our shared understanding of how the arts can be used to expand the boundaries of medicine. A newly released Progress Report updates our collective efforts to implement the recommendations and action steps detailed in that foundational document. Learn how we are advancing research, practice, education, policymaking, advocacy, leadership, and communications in this emerging field.

From New York Foundation for the Arts: In conjunction with the opening of Cycle 17 of our Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants, NYFA has scheduled two live online information sessions. We hope to reach even more artists from across the country who may be eligible, and in need of critical financial support for medical, dental or mental health emergencies. Interested artists can ask questions directly during the sessions; a recording will also be posted online by March 4.

"Last month, 'Avatar: Way of the Water' captured the world’s imagination. But you don’t have to travel to Pandora to witness the magic of the water or the power of community action to make a change," said Henry Olaisen for Next City. "For eight years, as leader of the Betty Wright Center in Palo Alto, a warm-water therapy facility open to the public, I saw this kind of magic every day. It taught me a lesson that holds true for anyone seeking greater equity in any healthcare system: If we are to design systems and facilities that are truly for the people and with the people (known as patient-centered care), we must carefully listen and learn from people with disabilities when designing facilities and programs."

From Good Work Institute: "At the start of a New Year, dedicate some attention to a fresh approach to your working relationships! In this 7-week workshop, we will cultivate our capacity to connect with ourselves and others and practice nonviolent communication skills that can support our working together productively, authentically, and with care, in service of our work towards collective liberation."