"Art U Okay?" - Supporting "Art-for-Wellness" Programs

Last Saturday the city of Las Vegas hosted the third annual free art and resource fair supporting mental health and self care through the arts along with live music and meditation. Co-sponsored by the First Friday Foundation and with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, this beloved cultural event has become a special occasion not to be missed by those actively involved in our art community.

Seeing this event at the Historic Fifth Street School in downtown Las Vegas and all the people buzzing around, shaking hands, dancing, swaying to the music, live painting, - genuinely engaging with likeminded people - all for the sake of art and improving mental health took me back to the start of my journey as a Park and Recreation professional... back to when I was getting my masters degree in public health.

For my practicum, I developed, promoted, and implemented a population-based public health program called Stress and Practicing the Art of Self-Expression (SPASE), while finishing my degree online and living in North Yorkshire, England. The program aimed to improve the overall mental and physical health, well-being and quality of life for young adults aged 16-25 through art, culture, and community engagement. Ultimately, I wanted to improve the lives of these young people by connecting with them... through art.

So... I volunteered at a local facility called "The Station," a converted old Railway building, which is currently used as multiple workshop areas, a dance studio, cafe, art gallery spaces, movie theater, conference room, and even room for tenants such as an ice cream shop, bakery and brewery... essentially a multi-purpose Community Center owned by a Board of Trustees. Though a personal connection and some negotiating, I was able to convince the Station manager to partner with me through an MOU to use their "space" for this program.... see what I did there?? Having the support and weight of the university's name behind be, meant a lot, too.

Fortunately, I had a lot of stakeholders who saw my vision and gave me the tools and permissions I needed to proceed... they gave me the physical - and figurative - space to hold my art for wellness program. It was at The Station that my lesson in Resiliency Through Recreation came to life for the first time.

I created a Community Needs Assessment and framework for the program. Collaborated with local artists and community volunteers to ensure successful engagement and proper distribution of assets.

Stress and Practicing the Art of Self-Expression (SPASE) was a series of ten FREE, weekly, in-person art workshops. Designed to connect people with their emotions and others through mindful, artistic expression, I spent months collaborating with eleven local, well-known artists in the UK who donated their time and materials to provide a compassionate learning experience. I could dedicate a whole other post sharing stories about each of the amazing artists and artists in training. We shared so many wonderful moments, and I learned so much from each of them, too. Their level of energy and appreciation made me want to see the program through - even more than just earning my degree at the end.

The Station offered to host the weekly "art-for-wellness" workshops which, for the participants, was to culminate in an "Artist Gallery Showcase" with Artist Reception. This workshop was cut short by about 5 weeks in March 2020 due to COVID, when the UK shut down all non-essential businesses. All volunteers and paid-employees were let go aside from one Manager, who was kept on-board to ensure proper building safety. Despite the lack of venue and concern for COVID being spread at in-person workshops, I decided to carry on with the workshops in a virtual format the very moment it was shut down.

The following week, I hosted live-stream art workshops via Facebook. I continued to host these virtual workshops for a month and concluded with a virtual “artist showcase” using a slideshow online gallery similar to the one here.

A post-workshop survey found that 80% of participants claimed participation increased their self-confidence, community relations and relationships with family and friends. The Qualtrics survey also found that 100% of participants agreed that participation increased their knowledge of coping mechanisms for daily stress and their interest in art. This inexpensive, yet invaluable program cost less than $500 in art supplies as the venue and instruction was at no cost. Even though though my practicum did not go as planned, with ingenuity and persistence I was able to impact the lives of others through a series of fortunate and unfortunate events. 

While attendance was much higher at the recent "Art U Okay?" event, but not necessarily tracked... I'm certain that it, too, made an impact on the community members in attendance. There may be a need for further surveys to gauge interest and to track the impact of individual wellness. If programs and events like these will be funded in the future, supportive evidence will likely come into play. I wonder what impact this event has made on people in our community and why do they come back year after year?

What type of art-for-wellness programs and special events does your community or Rec center provide?

Is there an opportunity or program gap to fill?