Theo Edmonds, JD,MHA,MFA
nat rosasco • April 7, 2020
Artist & Health Innovator:
University of Louisville Center for Creative Placehealing
Bio:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the systematic neglect of culture as the single, greatest barrier to the advancement of the highest standard of health worldwide. Health is more than the absence of disease. It is a state of wellbeing that allows diverse groups of people to contribute their full, creative potential to the communities they love. This interaction helps us derive a personal sense of hope, trust, and belonging. These are cultural metrics, transferable to a wide range of diverse communities, which, according to research, can predict wellbeing.
Even as inequity rises, America is experiencing a decades-long decline in social services funding. Likewise, we are at the beginning of a privatization movement directed at our nation’s public health system. How all of this plays out over the long term is yet to be seen. However, one thing is sure. The private, public and nonprofit sectors must become better aligned. UofL’s Center for Creative Placehealing was created to help find the way forward. A way that creates value for both business owners and society.
Whereas many of today’s business innovation models focus on creating “disruption”, the Center for Creative Placehealing is focused on something far more powerful. We seek to create “meaning”. Culture is the result of how diverse communities make and share meaning. It is the “why” of both people and businesses. The future of business is tied to creating value: both in the market AND in society. In other words - doing well, while doing good. This is fundamentally a CULTURAL challenge.
Public Art for Racial education is an organization that believes that public art has an important role in racial justice awareness. They commission and engage artists to create public art in and for each of their communities. Through public art and accompanying public programs, PARJE believes we can better understand our true history, and it can help us to appreciate the rich diversity of our human family and challenge us to be engaged in contemporary racial justice issues.
Nicole M Brewer is a passionate advocate for anti-racist theatre. She has spent the last fourteen years refining and practicing an inclusive method of theatre training and practices which she calls Conscientious Theatre Training (CTT). She has authored four articles about the need for the theatre industry to shift from racist and oppressive models to anti-racist and anti-oppressive.
The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture is building a world where every cultural organizer feels connected to and recognizes their critical role in a vibrant movement for liberatory change. The Art & Well-Being: Toward A Culture of Health is a free guide for artists who place their gifts at the service of healing, working for both individual and collective well-being, recognizing social justice as the foundation of a culture of health.
La CASA (Center for Arts, Self-determination, and Activism) is a transformative $33 million initiative by Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) in Boston's South End.This four-story facility will consolidate IBA's diverse programs—including affordable housing, education, financial empowerment, and arts—under one roof, enhancing access and community outreach.Supported by a $20 million New Markets Tax Credits allocation and $12 million in tax-exempt bond financing led by TD Bank, La CASA exemplifies a strategic partnership aimed at fostering socio-economic mobility.Upon its anticipated completion in 2026, La CASA is projected to serve over 2,500 individuals annually through resident services and youth development, with an additional 5,000 benefiting from its arts programming, reinforcing its role as a beacon for Latino culture and community empowerment in Boston.
The Welman Project aims to support educators by making the reuse of materials a resource for creativity in the classroom, and to increase arts participation in underserved groups. They serve educators, artists, makers, and families through three main programs: the Educator Resource Program, the Curiosity Shop, and their Creative Reuse Education Program. They are dedicated to using the arts as a space for healing and confronting social injustice.
Art Against Racism is a virtual arts exhibition which aims to lift up the tremendous array of creative works made in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In doing so, project organizers hope that the exhibition will serve as an archive of the national artistic response to this historic moment.
