Community Health and the Participatory Arts: Crucial Issues and Opportunities

Monday, October 15, 2:00pm – 3:30pm

Organized by Maria Rosario Jackson, senior advisor to the arts and culture program, The Kresge Foundation; Amy Kitchener, executive director, Alliance for California Traditional Arts.

Presented by Ofelia Esparza, artist, altarista, educator; Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., director, UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and professor, Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis; Beatriz Solis, director, Healthy Communities (South Region), The California Endowment.

Building on prior GIA sessions exploring the intersection between participatory arts and community health, discussants present and interrogate new developments in programming and research in this emerging arena. Drawing from the fields of public health, urban planning, and the arts, the conversation will cover several important issues: how work at the intersection of arts and health contributes to more equitable outcomes for disadvantaged communities, new collaborations between health funders and arts organizations, and validation of work in the arts and health fields, including financial support, criticism, peer networks, and training for this kind of work. The session will serve to further discussions and networking among GIA members with a sustained interest in this topic, while addressing critical issues for those engaged in and/or thinking about this kind of work.