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The Arts and Education Council will accept grant applications beginning Monday, June 1, for a new Arts and Healing initiative, in partnership with Missouri Foundation for Health.
The five-year initiative will provide grants up to $10,000 to 501(c)(3) organizations with a primary mission directly concerned with arts, arts education, healing and well-being.
“We believe the arts have a critical role in improving an individual’s health and social well-being,” said Cynthia Prost, Arts and Education Council president and CEO. “This initiative was needed in our community even before the spread of COVID-19, but now, more than ever, people will look for ways to heal, emotionally and physically. As our arts community continues to find innovative ways to lift our community during the pandemic, we know that they will find innovative ways to heal through the arts.”
”In thinking about the broad sense of health and how it encompasses much more than just the absence of disease and illness, it is our hope that the Arts and Healing initiative will be transformative in how we treat those with physical and psychological challenges,” said Bob Hughes, president and CEO of Missouri Foundation for Health. “Research shows that art can be used in various ways to heal and alter behavior and thinking patterns that may be detrimental to one’s overall health and well-being. We are looking forward to the positive outcomes of this partnership.”
Applications will be evaluated by the Arts and Healing initiative advisory panel, which includes Briana Belfiore, Sense Corp; Rebeccah Bennett, InPower Institute; Dr. Jeffrey Carter, Missouri Baptist Medical Center; Marty Casey, Show Me Arts Academy; Aaron Chamberlain, Washington University; Dr. Debbie Depew, St. Luke’s Medical Group; Vicki Friedman, Arts as Healing Foundation; Deidre Griffith, SSM Health; David Gutmann, Washington University Neurofibromatosis Center; Dr. Ken Haller, Saint Louis University; Dr. Terry Harris, Rockwood School District; Shawn Hayden, Missouri Southwest Initiative to Change Health; Lisa Higgins, Missouri Folk Arts; Kisha Lee, CareSTL; Dr. Melinda Novik, Missouri State University; Aaron Rodgers, health equity consultant; and Sheila Suderwalla, Artists First.
A Zoom Q&A session will be held on Monday, June 8. For more information about the new grant, visit keeparthappening.org.
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