Voices from the Field Blog

Sharing the Stories of Healthcare Workers through Paper Made from Scrubs

Frontline Arts connects and builds communities through the socially-engaging arts practices of papermaking and printmaking, namely through Frontline Paper, where veterans make handmade paper from military uniforms. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we were called to an additional cause: helping socially-distanced healthcare workers tell their stories from the frontlines. After our Studio...

The Force Is with New Jersey

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” - George Lucas We all need a little bit of the “force” right now. Here are 5 advocacy areas that ArtPride New Jersey is focusing on in the reality of the coronavirus situation. ArtPride will continue to voice concern about the welfare of the field to the New Jersey legislature throughout the spring as NJ State budget deliberations continue...

Five Years and Counting! OR The Struggle to Get a licensure Bill Signed Into Law

This journey began five years ago. I was President of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association. I received a phone call from a New Jersey drama therapist, who asked me if I wanted to work with her toward the important goal of creating a N.J. State License for Drama Therapy and Dance/Movement Therapy. We gathered a team of dedicated professionals who became the N.J. Task...

Go Ahead; Make the Arts Accessible for Everyone

As an arts administrator, I am very proud of the accomplishments the Monmouth Museum has made over the past 10 years in providing accessible arts and cultural experiences to special need populations. This year, I am both thrilled and humbled to say the Cultural Access Network Project (CAN), a program of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and NJ State Council on the Arts, is honoring the Monmouth...

Bedminster Center Offers Creative Expression for Children with Autism

At The Center for Contemporary Art (“The Center”) in Bedminster, we proudly declare on our website that we, “recognize the diversity of our community’s abilities and needs and are committed to enabling all people to experience the benefits of arts education.” We offer seven year-round programs that provide an outlet for creative expression in a safe, supportive setting for children with Autism...

The Healing Power of Art at MD Anderson Cooper

In 1860, Florence Nightingale recognized the profound effect “beautiful objects” have on sickness and recovery. “Little as we know about the way in which we are affected by form, by color and light, we do know this – that they have an actual physical effect,” Nightingale wrote. Studies have confirmed Nightingale’s instinct. Infusing a patient’s experience with artwork can improve recovery and...

Art and Death

Would you rather spend your remaining days in a hospital bed or jumping out of an airplane with Jack Nicholson? That is the premise behind the film The Bucket List, when two terminally ill cancer patients receive news that they have just a year to live. Ed (Jack Nicholson) and Carter (Morgan Freeman) become friends during their respective cancer treatments and embark on a journey to complete their...

Opportunities at the Intersection of Arts & Health

What is behind the arts and health movement? What do you need to do to institute an arts and health program? What is the difference between healing arts and art therapy? How can we ensure that private insurance companies begin to see the value of the arts in health and wellness? These are just a few of the questions that were broached at Opportunities at the Intersection of Arts & Health...

Arts & Health Celebrations

QUESTION: You and your friends are in search of a beautiful new spot to see some inspirational local art so you decide to visit: A. A museum B. A gallery C. A coffee shop D. A hospital Now I'm sure many of you would overlook D. at first glance, but if the AAHNJ Arts & Health Tours taught me anything, it was that perhaps you should take a second look. It is obvious that our hospitals, healthcare...

AAHNJ Arts for Life Re-Cap

Arts for Life: Boosting the Health of Older Adults was held on Friday, March 20, 2015 at the Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in Englewood. Over 20 artists, arts administrators, aging services providers were hosted by the Alliance for Arts and Health New Jersey and Arts for Life of New Jersey in partnership with the Bergen County Division of Cultural Affairs to experience and discuss the benefits of...