Participatory Arts and Community Health: Challenges and Opportunities

Tuesday, October 19, 9:30 am – 11:00 am

Organized by Amy Kitchener, executive director, Alliance for California Traditional Arts; Maria Rosario Jackson, senior research associate, Metropolitan Housing and Communities, Urban Institute.

Presented by Beatriz Solis, director, Healthy Communities Strategies, South Region, The California Endowment; Josephine Ramirez, arts program director, The James Irvine Foundation; Alaka Wali, director, cultural understanding and change, The Field Museum.

Participatory arts are a crucial aspect of a healthy community. Illustrated with examples from throughout the country, discussants representing different perspectives?an artist working at the intersection of arts and health, a funder in the health field, a funder from the arts field, and an urban cultural anthropologist?explore the challenges and opportunities inherent in the work of programs designed to overlap arts and community health. The conversation will address several issues: validation of the work in the arts and health fields (including attention to financial support), criticism, peer networks, and training for this kind of work.