Blog Posts for Arts & Healing

Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


Ben Fink


Denise Griffin Johnson

On Cultural Organizing and Performing Our Future

Posted by Ben Fink, Denise Griffin Johnson, Apr 21, 2020 0 comments


Ben Fink


Denise Griffin Johnson

“We own what we make.” That’s the watchword of a national grassroots-to-grassroots coalition called Performing Our Future, which we both help lead. It unites communities across the country who have spent generations resisting economic exploitation—who historically have not owned what they make—and who have long been set against each other along racial, political, regional, and rural-urban lines. How have these communities come together? Through the work of cultural organizing. Cultural organizing is not the same as conventional community organizing or activism. Conventional community organizing and activism typically work from deficits: identify what’s missing in our communities, find and mobilize the people who agree with you, call out the inequity and injustice, and fight the bad guys. In the coalfields of East Kentucky and the inner city of West Baltimore, where we work, this usually means “organizing around” problems like unemployment, drugs, or disenfranchisement. Sometimes a meeting might start with a poem, or a protest might include beautiful puppets. But that’s still not cultural organizing. Cultural organizing is more than activism-plus-art.

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Michele Crawford

I Waited For the Sun

Posted by Michele Crawford, Apr 20, 2020 0 comments


Michele Crawford

Sometimes the source of our perceived needs is shielded, just to remind us of the greatness we take for granted and get us to yearn for something regular again. For many, that greatness is integrated in art, through creation and sharing. The brilliance of the solar system and the access to the sun is something we all share. Despite the classes we put ourselves in, despite the prejudices we choose to uphold and create, our sun is seemingly the same. It is a reminder of a new day beginning and, ready or not, another chance to be. My biggest lesson from the excessive alone time and relaxation of busyness is that though it seems many things are inaccessible, I still have access. I can still create, think, make mistakes, and breathe. 

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Randy Cohen

It’s the Arts. Troubling News Yet Still Room for Optimism

Posted by Randy Cohen, Apr 14, 2020 0 comments


Randy Cohen

The coronavirus is having a devastating impact on America’s arts sector. Since the first U.S. case was diagnosed, cancellations and closings have been reported at thousands of arts organizations across the country, artists are posting high unemployment rates, and organizations are furloughing staff. Clearly this is a distressing time for the country with more uncertainty ahead. When the crisis does end, however, the arts should be looked to as an essential tool in both economic recovery and reconnecting our communities. Getting people out of their houses and spending money again will be key to jump-starting the economy (70% of the U.S. economy is consumer spending). The arts also will create opportunities to heal the isolation caused by social distancing and unify our communities. The coronavirus toll is heavy, but the arts can be our great asset in recovering from the crisis socially and economically. This is why doing everything in our power to bolster the arts now will make our nation stronger later.

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Ami Scherson

Creation at a Time of Isolation

Posted by Ami Scherson, Mar 24, 2020 0 comments


Ami Scherson

The Dance/NYC Junior Committee (JComm for short) is a group of dancers, arts administrators, and advocates that includes emerging leaders from the field working to create positive change in the New York City dance and artist community through research, activism, and community support. Through this challenging time, JComm has been a community I could rely on for support and comfort. As “social distancing” became an increasingly common theme among social media feeds, the news, and even my favorite podcasts, I was concerned and disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to feel connected or stay close to this dear group during a time of panic. 

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Randy Cohen

10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2020

Posted by Randy Cohen, Mar 23, 2020 0 comments


Randy Cohen

The effective arts advocate needs to articulate the value of the arts in as many ways as possible—deploying the right case-making tool in the right situation. Consider these “10 Reasons to Support the Arts” as your Swiss army knife for arts advocacy. Like so many sequestered at home during COVID-19, I write this while mindful of our challenging times, and yet inspired by how the arts still have found a way to permeate our lives. I have watched Yo-Yo Ma concerts online, visited the Smithsonian Museum with a click, and joined my neighbors for daily 6 p.m. outdoor singalongs. Even in this difficult environment, the arts are providing personal experiences and promote social cohesion (see tools #2 and #8 on your army knife!). While I am uncertain what we will look like on the other side of this crisis, tool #1 makes me optimistic that when it is time to stop practicing social distancing, it is the arts that will unify us. 

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Meg H. Stanton

Summa Health Connects Patients to Art and its Healing Powers

Posted by Meg H. Stanton, Mar 19, 2020 0 comments


Meg H. Stanton

Studies show the healing potential of the arts is powerful. It can change a person’s focus and alter a body’s physiology. Research suggests that it can lower blood pressure, improve stress management, curb anxiety and depression, alleviate pain, enhance memory, improve communication, promote wellness and relaxation, and enhance the production of proteins that accelerates healing and minimizes the danger of infection. Recognizing that a patient’s physical health is fundamentally linked to his or her emotional and spiritual well-being, in 2016 Summa Health committed to integrating the healing arts into its renowned patient care by creating a Healing Arts Leadership Council made up of senior hospital staff, benefactors, and community leaders. This Council is dedicated to bringing the healing powers of art and music into the hospital. As Summa is a community hospital, the Healing Arts Council decided early on that all artwork displayed would feature artists with a connection to Ohio, and predominantly Northeast Ohio. In addition, all art would be original, with the goal of engaging viewers with the pieces, and focusing their attention on the artworks’ unique qualities. 

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