How this massive art show in 18 locations across the U.S. can benefit your health

You may have heard that there are secrets to living a healthy life. The Arts For EveryBody campaign aims to show everyone how the arts can benefit the health of people and communities. The campaign will be unveiled in a big way on July 27, 2024. Or rather, a series of shows coordinated together. The day will bring together hundreds of artists, community leaders, and health professionals from 18 different cities and towns across the United States to create a variety of large-scale participatory art projects and how they can improve mental and physical health. We will show you for the first time. -The presence of everyone around you.

One of the goals of this major undertaking is to paint a different picture of art. What differs from Watts may be a common stereotype. You might think that art is more about fun and entertainment. You may have seen in high school or college how people were divided into artistic groups, scientific groups, pre-medical groups, and other factions featured in movies. I don't know. mean girls. These high school distinctions extend into adulthood, with different disciplines, disciplines, and sectors remaining completely separate and siled.

But in reality, these separations are quite arbitrary. There's no real reason why arts, health and science shouldn't be more highly integrated. In fact, as hinted at on the National Endowment for the Arts website, many scientific studies have shown how the arts can lead to improved mental and physical health. For example, engaging in different types of creative arts may increase serotonin levels and increase blood flow to the pleasure parts of the brain, both of which can make you feel better and more effectively prevent disease. and can fight. It can also help increase creativity, foster optimism, and enhance social interactions, all of which can lead to improved health.

These possibilities didn't escape Tony Award-nominated theater director Leah Dovessonné. In her words, “over 20 years of practice, she became convinced of the spiritual and physical benefits of art and its benefits to the community as a whole.” This includes directing various theater shows on and off Broadway. This motivated her to found her One Nation One Project, which organized the Arts for EveryBody campaign, and serves as her co-artistic director.

“When we came up with the idea for the campaign in 2020, it felt like a very urgent time,” DeBesonnet said. If you recall, 2020 was a little different than other years. Then the coronavirus pandemic began, and the United States went into a — well, how should I describe it — proverbial pants-down situation. “There was that health crisis and multiple other crises,” she continued. “They made it clear that one sector alone cannot address the complexity of society and that we need to work together across sectors.”

Working across sectors is easier said than done these days, when so many people are deeply trapped in their own silos. “Working across sectors means carving out paths that don't yet exist,” DeBesonnet explained. “We had to help build new relationships. This includes learning each other's languages ​​and listening a lot.”

Then there was the problem of finding money. This doesn't get in the way of anything, right? After all, the words “to do it for the money” and “to pursue an artistic career” are not necessarily the same. “We were faced with the challenge of how to fund this venture,” she said. “The work of community-based artists has been undervalued and deprived of funding. Many funding sources had separate arts and health sectors, but in the end we have created an innovative foundation. On March 27, the One Nation One Project and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York held a roundtable discussion about innovative ways arts-based interventions can be integrated and funded in different types of health programs. It was held. In addition to the Tides Center, the One Nation One Project receives support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Create Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, The Tow Foundation, and various other family foundations.

Clyde Ballentine, executive director of the Bronx Museum of Art and co-founder and co-artistic director of the One Nation One Project, recalls: resonance. This was an opportunity to involve people in a time-based project with endpoints. It's easier to say yes to something that has an endpoint than something that is open-ended. ”

Its endpoint is July 27th, when actors, muralists, poets, folk dancers, circus clowns, farmers, and floral artists will perform in Chicago, Gainesville, Honolulu, New York City, Providence, Seattle, and 12 other American towns and cities. , skaters and others are scheduled to perform. , cooks, architects, DJs, puppeteers, nurses, mariachi players, bamboo weavers, and many other artists and their works. All of this will take place under the typical Oz theme of the event, “No Place Like Home.”

Garrett, the sixth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the first woman of color to lead the $44 million theater, and co-artistic director of the One Nation One Project, explains how this He explained how it was a “community-based” collaboration. We help arts and community health organizations grow their communities and establish new collaborations and new ways to work together. ”

The idea of ​​people working together across sectors, communities, and other groups counters much of the divisive, often racist, sexist, and other “ism” political rhetoric that's been happening lately. It is something to do. Well, let's think about it. Was there ever a time when political leaders could use rhetoric to divide people so that they could take over everything? Hmm. What about his 1930s, when fascism occupied much of Europe?

Now, back in 1936, in response to what was happening in Europe, the Federal Theater Project organized a stage production of the play “It Doesn't Happen Here” in 18 cities and towns across the United States as a dire warning. . The play is an adaptation of a dystopian political novel written by Sinclair Lewis. The plot of this play and novel was that, yes, it means fascism and totalitarianism, but it really could happen here or anywhere. Does the number 18 sound familiar? That's because his 1936 Federal Theater project is the inspiration for this year's Arts For EveryBody campaign, which will be held in the same number of cities and towns.

Like the 1930s, the 2020s look set to be an important period in history in many ways. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many of the deep problems that have existed in the United States for years and have been hidden for decades. To move toward a healthier future, America will need to paint a different picture, sing a different song, act differently, and envision a better vision. And art really helps make all of this happen. The question is: Will artists have the resources and opportunities to show all they can?