Arts For The Health Of It

A documentary starring one of our first patients and Musicians-in-Residence, Cassie, is being filmed in 2024 and we couldn't be more excited to talk about it with her and its producer and director, Josh Cavazos.

Learn about the health benefits of intentional laughter with the Laughter Ambassador herself, Cathy Nesbitt!

Connect with Cathy and sign up for her FREE Tuesday Laughter Workshop at cathysclub.com

We're celebrating SEVEN YEARS of creating moments of joy, self-expression, and connection with people going through life-altering health challenges.

Don't forget that #GivingTuesday is tomorrow, November 28th!

heartsneedart.org/donate

Hear from Hearts Need Art's Program Coordinators, Surveyors, Director of Philanthropy, and CEO!

New program locations!

Hearts Need Art's anniversary!

Giving Tuesday!

Halloween costumes and parties!

To become a donor, please visit heartsneedart.org/donate

Matthew Perlman uses the arts for health by creating a community while also preventing isolation. The pandemic forced many artists to paint alone in their small studio spaces and apartments. Artishouse was created to provide these individuals with a space to come together, preventing isolation, while also encouraging creative collaboration and community. He uses art and his studio space to bring other creatives together and make sure there is a safe space for artists to collaborate and connect with one another.

Matthew is a self-taught artist based in New York City. Matthew is a creative professional specializing in retail visual design, visual merchandising, window display production and event design. Matthew is also the founder and CEO of Artishouse, an innovative co-working studio for artists to practice their craft while also forming a sense of community.

You can learn more at https://www.artishousenyc.com

In this episode, Vocab is on-location with Danielle Campbell Steans, Director of the San Antonio Ballet School. Danielle shares how she began dancing at age four and the career she has built through many years of performing and teaching. Underscoring all of her work is her commitment to making dance accessible through community outreach efforts and scholarships. Of note is her work with at-risk youth at Boys & Girls Clubs in San Antonio which earned her a full-tuition scholarship to attend American Ballet Theatre’s National Curriculum Training. Danielle also guides us through a movement exercise and shares how you can get involved in her dance community.

More about Danielle:

http://www.sanantonioballetschool.com/

http://www.sanantonioballetschool.com/san-antonio-youth-ballet/

'𝕿𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓!  

Today, we present to you "𝔸 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤 ℕ𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝔸𝕣𝕥 ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕪"  

You'll hear classic holiday songs, be able to create art with your loved one, listen to stories, and have the chance to help bring arts-in-health services to more hospital beds next year.  

PLUS  

Watch a dream come true for one cancer patient, thanks to the San Antonio Symphony (no spoilers!)

If you enjoy the show, please consider going to heartsneedart.org to help us continue providing moments of joy, self-expression, and connection for those facing life-altering health challenges through arts engagement, advocacy, and innovation.  You can also text SIX to 53-555!  

𝓔𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝔀!

One of our big, birthday wishes is that arts in health becomes part of the standard of care. As you'll hear in this episode, Gracie told Constanza years ago, "We need to remember the reasons WHY we're alive as much as we need the things that keep us alive." Your support ensures more joy, self-expression, and connection with patients and caregivers. Text SIX to 53-555, or visit givebutter.com/hna-birthday to wish us a Happy Birthday! 

Visit with Constanza Roeder, Hearts Need Art Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Richard Wilmore, CEO, and Catherine Particini, Director of Marketing. Hear about some of their most memorable interactions with patients and caregivers; marvel at one of Constanza's original, hand-made display boards; find out what they're looking forward to in the coming months and years, and more! Thank you for 6 incredible years! We wouldn't be here without your love and support.  givebutter.com/hna-birthday

Kate Powell is the Executive Director of Tidewater Arts Outreach (TAO) in Norfolk, VA. Their mission is to bring joy to older adults and those living in isolating circumstances and enhance their well-being through creative engagement with the arts. Key topics Kate discusses include the following:

• the loneliness epidemic
• the types of art engagement offered in their community
• the importance of age-appropriate programming
• how you can use your own talent to address the loneliness epidemic

Learn more at tidewaterartsoutreach.org
Connect on social media: @757artsoutreach

Lisa is a proud wife and mother of two boys, ages 7 and 5, who lives just north of Boston, Massachusetts. She is an almost four-year Triple Negative Breast Cancer survivor and a former elementary school teacher who now devotes her time to helping other young adults who are facing a cancer diagnosis. She does this through her work as the Marketing and Communications Manager for the Steven G. Cancer Foundation and Elephants and Tea Magazine, and through her podcast the "Don't Call it a Journey Podcast" (streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify). In her free time, she loves to write, cook, and travel and enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Connect with Lisa:

@lisaorr714

@elephantsandteamagazine

elephantsandtea.com

"Art is part of who I am. I use art for my health by integrating different artistic styles and mediums into my day or week. Drawing or painting allows me to stay present, practice mindfulness, enter a meditative space, and expand my artistic capabilities. I use art for my mental health. It is an outlet for complex emotions that I may be feeling and gives those feelings a safe outlet to be seen and experienced fully. Art is also there for days I am feeling great and want to create simply for the joy of it. In whatever flux of emotions that occurs, art is solid foundation I can lean on." - Jordyn Ruiz

Ella Rosewood (she/her) is a dance educator, entrepreneur, and lifelong Girl Scout based in Brooklyn, NY. She is the founder and CEO of Crelata, a new on-demand dance education platform aimed at making access to dance education in schools more equitable. Rosewood holds dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Dance and Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters Degree in Dance Education from the Inaugural Cohort of the Lincoln Center Scholars Alternative Certification Program in partnership with the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College. 

With Ella and one of Crelata's instructors, Bianca Megaro, you'll hear about why dance is so important in schools, including the role diverse dance styles play in connecting students with their communities; how dance impacts positive health; and how to provide access to dance in schools. Visit crelata.com to learn more and get a free Salsa dance lesson!

Connect with Ella: crelata.com 

In honor of National Grief Awareness Day, we've partnered with our friends from the podcast Out Of Grief Comes Art to have an open and honest discussion about grief.

What is it?

Why do we do it?

How can we express ourselves during it?

Catherine shows us an easy art piece that you can make with someone, for someone, or in honor of someone.

You can connect with Elizabeth and Halle by visiting griefdialogues.com

Danielle Filippone is an OR nurse for Northwell Health and a member of the Northwell Health Nurse Choir; America’s Got Talent Season 16 finalists. She uses singing to communicate with her son, and to make patients comfortable for surgery.

Melanie Ambler is an aspiring physician-artist from Redding, CT. She is currently a medical student at Stanford School of Medicine and a classically-trained cellist. She graduated from Brown University in 2019, then spent a year in Caen, France as a Fulbright Scholar where she researched music and dementia at a neuroimaging lab. She currently plays weekly virtual concerts for critically ill patients and is interested in how the arts can be integrated into the medical field.

From Melanie:

I believe the arts bring humanity back to the field of medicine. I find that playing cello for patients can be incredibly calming and cathartic for them. In addition, I research the use of music in pediatric surgery and have done work on music and dementia, as well as music and adult surgery.

Throughout her six years of experience in the field of Arts in Health, Brooke McKinney has witnessed firsthand the healing capacity of the arts. As an Artist-in-Residence with Art with a Heart in Healthcare (AWAHIH), Brooke passionately provides fine art experiences for pediatric patients and their families at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL.

AWAHIH has hundreds of art tutorial videos using basic art supplies that we encourage listeners to check out.

We're doing one of Brooke's personal favorite's, Zentangle, today! Zentangle can be done with just a pen and paper and can be a daily practice.

Connect with Brooke: awahih.org

Amy L Bernstein writes stories that let readers feel while making them think. Her novels include The Potrero Complex, The Nighthawkers, Dreams of Song Times, and Fran, the Second Time Around. Amy is an award-winning journalist, playwright, speechwriter, and certified nonfiction book coach.  PLUS Amy's stretching our creative writing muscles with 2 different writing prompts that you can follow along with to make your own story!

From Amy: I believe that cultivating and practicing any artform is intrinsically good for mental and physical health. For me, writing fiction and nonfiction help me, as an introvert, to share and community feelings I might otherwise keep bottled up. For others, drawing, painting, sewing, sculpting, baking, etc., can help so much in managing moods and encouraging positive feelings and a sense of calm.

Connect with Amy:  amywrites.live

Clinton Kirkpatrick is a community artist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He graduated in 2008 from the University of Huddersfield, England, with a Paint and Drawing Degree and moved back to Belfast. His work examines the human and explores the systems that bind communities and cultures and the absurd.

He's here to teach us a fun and easy way to incorporate drawing into your day.  He's been drawing every day for YEARS!  

We also talk about our favorite paperback books, singing in the choir, and use our Joy Cards from episode 3.  

Connect with Clinton: https://www.orangepaintbooks.com/clinton-kirkpatrick

The day after the school shooting in Uvalde, Marisa Castro drove to the small Texas city to do her part in helping the community heal.  Over 2 months later, she is still there making sure that anyone who seeks her help and guidance can find her.

She's been a Musician-in-Residence with Hearts Need Art since 2019 and she joins this episode to talk about:

• the differences between art therapy and arts-in-health
• how she stays grounded and centered
• how music therapy is helping a community
• how it can help you

Grab some paint and paper and see what happens!

Catherine's showing us how a few simple supplies from the grocery store can make unique art pieces and no two are alike!

We're also talking about her art upbringing, how and why she uses the arts for her own well-being (and her son's), what she loves about working with patients, and why she's excited about sitting in the co-host seat on the podcast!

Tasha is the Director of Research at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and a national leader and consultant in arts and public health. She studies the impact of the arts, music, aesthetics, and social norms on health and well-being.  

From Dr. Golden:  As a career artist, I know that art helps us recognize, navigate, and communicate the human experience.  As a public health scientist, I know that when we limit human expression, we limit health, knowledge, and change.

TashaGolden.com

Claudia Marulanda is a New York City-based visual artist whose passion is empowering women through the beauty of art.  She pursued a career in graphic design, working in the publishing industry. However, it wasn't until Claudia hit an emotional rock bottom that she rediscovered her passion for art.  Art became her medicine, a source for healing, and a place for self-expression. Claudia states, "Creating art became a way to relieve my pain, release suppressed emotions, and be empowered."  For this reason, she now facilitates art workshops and programs to help women struggling with emotional distress, self-expression, and bottling up their emotions.  

We are also joined by Jill Ortiz, who was a reluctant workshop participant.  Jill shares her story of why she joined and the way bringing the arts into her life have changed her.  

PLUS  Grab some color pencils and paper and get ready to explore your creative side with a color wheel project!  

Connect with Claudia: coloryourwaytofeelingdivine.com marulandaart.com 

Connect with Jill: jillortizfitness.com

Claude is an artist with over two decades of experience working with textiles, paint and collage. She also facilitates workshops for adults and youth in the general population as well as those with developmental disabilities and brain trauma. Her approach to art is accessible to all and she feels that expression through art is a powerful bridge for people who might otherwise be excluded from traditional classes.

PLUS Claude teaches us a fun art project using supplies from your back yard

AND Catherine joins us to talk about what it means to be an Artist-in-Residence

Connect with Claude at ClaudeLarsonArt.com

OPH was established in 1993 as a family-friendly theatrical company in Los Angeles, CA, to share the arts and beauty of West African culture with Americans. We have served communities in Washington, DC since 2003. Our purpose is to educate through a holistic, creative curriculum and entertain through performance that deepens intercultural understanding.

Veera Oye Yaa-Anna affectionately known as Auntie Oye, is a Liberian-born acclaimed master storyteller who transports her audience to West Africa through "imaginary" interactive storytelling.

www.oyepalaverhut.org

Kyria Marie MA, NC, CHD, is a holistic nutritional consultant and health coach. She helps clients achieve peak performance and heal stubborn chronic health issues by overcoming the underlying root causes of imbalance, without medications or countless hours of meditation. She brings over a decade of experience combining both modern science and ancient wisdom to support natural healing from anywhere in the world.   Kyria and her team specialize in Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis (FBCA) to get clients real answers and clarity on what exactly is out of balance in their bodies. Then they create a custom personalized health program using nutrition and lifestyle strategies to help clients get better results faster. Learn more at: www.kyriahealth.com

Vijay Gupta is a violinist and social justice advocate. An esteemed performer, communicator, educator and citizen-artist, Gupta is a leading advocate for the role of the arts and music to heal, inspire, provoke change, and foster social connection. Vijay is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a non-profit organization providing musical engagement, dialogue and teaching artistry for homeless and incarcerated communities in Los Angeles. Vijay is also a 2018 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow.

www.guptaviolin.com

@guptaviolin

We're back!

Season 2 kicks off RIGHT NOW!

After spending 16 days in the hospital WITHOUT access to the arts, we'll get an   update on Richard's health.

PLUS

Jeremiah Stemple is here talking about his journey with Cystic Fibrosis and how he's using his love of comic books to inspire kids with chronic illnesses.

heroesforcauses.com