Art & Well-Being: Toward A Culture of Health

A Free Guide for Artists, Creative Organizers, Healthcare Providers, Educators, Funders, Policy-Makers, and Communities Responding to Threats to Well-Being

What can art do to nurture a culture of health?

• Prevention: Art can shine a light on essential truths about our individual and collective well-being.
• Advocacy: Art can advocate for the rights of those facing health challenges.
• Treatment: Art can engage, serve, partner, and support those living with health challenges.

We envision a time when cultural interventions to improve personal and social health are commonplace and well-funded. Imagine not just a beautiful appearance for every hospital and clinic; not just musicians and storytellers on every ward to help people craft the narratives and move to the rhythms of their own healing. Go further and magine never again having to argue for the necessity of beauty, connection, and purpose to well-being. Imagine the scales falling from policymakers’ eyes, allowing them to finally see that social justice heals. Imagine them investing real power and resources in that truth.

Art & Well-Being is for everyone who wishes to bring about this shift in our culture of health. The USDAC published this guide for Citizen Artists who place their gifts at the service of healing, working for both individual and collective well-being, for those who recognize social justice as the foundation of a culture of health. And for medical practitioners and policymakers who understand the critical importance of arts-based interventions.