Guest Blog Post: Creating Healthy Communities 2025
What if your doctor prescribed you a painting class instead of a pill? Or a choir rehearsal in place of a new medication?
This isn’t the stuff of science fiction — it’s happening right now in cities across the U.S. and gaining serious momentum. And at the heart of this movement is a rapidly expanding understanding of the neuroarts — how the arts influence brain health and well-being.
That's why we are inviting members of Neuroarts Resource Center to Newark, New Jersey, October 14–16, for Creating Healthy Communities 2025, a national convening co-hosted by NJPAC Arts & Well-Being and the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. Whether you’re advancing research, building programs, or advocating for arts and health integration, you belong here.
“Creating Healthy Communities is more than a convening — it’s a catalytic space where artists, public health professionals, community leaders, policymakers and others come together to imagine and activate new possibilities for health and well-being through the arts,” says Dr. Jill Sonke, Director of Research Initiatives at the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida.
Why Neuroarts Professionals Belong in the Room
You already know that the arts change lives. But the conversation has evolved from intuition to evidence. Creating Healthy Communities brings together the changemakers—researchers, clinicians, artists, policy leaders, and community organizers—who are building the case and shaping the systems that allow the neuroarts to thrive.
This year’s convening will focus on:
- Arts participation as a health behavior
- The arts as a social driver of health
- Best practices in arts prescribing
- The economic case for arts in health
- Strategies for policy and systems change
As a Neuroarts Resource Center community member, you’re already committed to rigorous, innovative, and interdisciplinary work. CHC 2025 offers you a chance to deepen that work by connecting with partners across fields, sharing the evidence, and activating new ideas in real time.
What to Expect
Creating Healthy Communities isn’t your average conference — it’s a dynamic space designed for collaboration, creativity, and connection. Here’s a preview of the 2025 program:
October 14
- Free community arts activities at leading cultural institutions in Newark
- Opening reception and networking opportunities
October 15
- Keynote by Dr. María Rosario Jackson, Urban Planning and Cultural Policy Expert, and former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts
- Panels on arts and health in times of change, social drivers of health, and emerging neuroarts research
- Breakout sessions including Neuroarts, One Nation/One Project findings, evaluation strategies, and speed networking
- An evening Well-Being Concert, presented by Carnegie Hall
October 16
- Discussions on the economics of arts in health
- Deep-dive panels and workshops on arts prescribing, featuring experts from across sectors
- Closing keynote by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, award-winning cultural strategist and performer
Your Presence Matters
The neuroarts field thrives when science, practice, and creativity converge. By showing up at Creating Healthy Communities, you help shape how arts and health are understood, funded, and implemented—especially at this critical moment when the arts are finally being recognized as essential to public health.
Whether you're a researcher advancing the evidence base, a practitioner designing programs, or a policymaker working toward systems change, your voice belongs in this space.
The Time Is Now—And Newark Is the Place
This is the first time Creating Healthy Communities will be held in New Jersey, and NJPAC is the perfect host. As a national leader in arts and public impact, NJPAC is walking the talk — piloting New Jersey’s first arts-on-prescription program and embedding arts access into community health strategies across the state.
The ArtsRx program, launched in 2023, partners with health and social care providers and cultural institutions to prescribe participation in the arts as a wellness intervention. It’s one of many bold initiatives that have placed NJPAC at the forefront of the arts and health equity movement.
As John Schreiber, NJPAC’s President & CEO, put it: “We really believe that performing arts centers are public health centers.”
Creating Healthy Communities is where that belief becomes action.
Special Offer for Neuroarts Community Members
Because we believe the neuroarts perspective is essential to these conversations, we’re offering a special registration rate of $400 exclusively for members of the Neuroarts Resource Center. Register now at https://www.njpac.org/creating-healthy-communities-2025/ and use code NRC400 to secure your special rate.
We’ll see you in Newark—and we can't wait to see what we’ll create together. Let the side effects of Joy, Wonder, and Lasting Impact begin.
