CNC Perspectives: PBC Neuroarts Collaborative
Background & Formation
• 2022: Palm Health Foundation (PHF) initiated community conversations to explore the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative.
• 2023: Community interest led to the creation of a Community Neuroarts Coalition (CNC), which was subsequently named the PBC Neuroarts Collaborative.
• Its Mission is: “To convene partners who will build the field of neuroarts in Palm Beach County and guide and advance its practices to advance health and wellbeing.”
• WHAT WE DO: The Palm Beach County Neuroarts Collaborative helps Palm Health Foundation inform the community about innovative, science-supported arts & health initiatives; creates opportunities for shared learning and bringing arts-based health interventions to community members; and encourages transdisciplinary research and collaboration.
Neuroarts Assets Were There
Reading the NeuroArts Blueprint brought an “Aha!” moment to Palm Health Foundation’s CEO Patrick McNamara in 2022. Palm Health Foundation is a community foundation for health. With the support of donors and a focus on results, the foundation builds strong community partnerships, respects diverse opinions, advocates for its most vulnerable neighbors, and inspires innovative solutions to lead change for better health now and for generations to come. The foundation supports health equity for Palm Beach County residents of all backgrounds, heritage, education, incomes and states of well-being.
Within months Patrick’s team, led by Carrie Browne, hosted small meetings of community stakeholders to assess interest in implementing the Neuroarts Blueprint locally. Dialogues were simultaneously underway with Susan Magsamen, Ruth Katz, Andrea Camp, Rick Luftglass, and others involved with the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative. By early 2023 the idea of a Palm Beach County based-CNC was gaining momentum.
Having participated in those early conversations, I was engaged as a consultant to help Palm Health Foundation (PHF) develop a community neuroarts coalition (CNC).
We began with a mission statement:
“The Mission of the PBC Neuroarts Collaborative is to convene partners who will build the field of neuroarts in Palm Beach County and guide and advance its practices to advance health and wellbeing.”
Tapping into PHF’s wide network of community partners, the next step was to set an plan for a series of bi-monthly remote meetings. Participation was voluntary. There was considerable curiosity about the neuroarts initiative fueled by Palm Health Foundation’s awareness-building initiatives several months prior. One of the most impactful efforts was the October 2022 “Train the Brain” campaign, which focused on neuroarts and created a special edition of The Well of PBC. It culminated with a neuroarts-themed Lunch-and-Learn at FAU’s Stiles Nicholson Brain Institute. A year later, a neuroarts-focused October 2023 edition of The Well of PBC highlighted our CNC's remarkable growth and community impact.
The October 2022 and October 2023 editions of The Well of PBC Having a CNC invited opportunities for transdisciplinary discourse and learning that had not existed previously. Initial meetings focused on brain health, terminology, and examples of how the arts impact the body, brain, and behavior. These were learning and discussion sessions designed to encourage participants to imagine how community health needs could be met through arts-based practices. The meetings served as crucibles for learning and collaboration.
Arts-based learning was embedded into each CNC convening (e.g., videos, musical performances, drum circles, AI art, Tai Chi, mindfulness) to keep members mindful of its power and impact. The first three meetings were held remotely; the fourth was an opportunity to meet face-to-face.
Abasi Haniff of Livin’ The Rhythm (front row, fourth from right) leads a West African Drumming Cypher to open the first in-person convening of the PBC Neuroarts Collaborative at Palm Beach State College’s Stage West in December 2024. Collaboration between health professions, creative professionals, educators, researchers, and community advocacy organizations was a desired outcome, so seeing this word cloud of member interests emerge during the fifth bi-monthly meeting (February 2024) was gratifying:
CNC meetings also called attention to existing programs that fell under the neuroarts umbrella. Music therapists, art therapists, arts professionals, and mental health counselors who embraced arts engagement shared their insights and helped to broaden everyone’s perspective. Some pointed toward existing research that supported their work. This shared understanding between sectors helped to level the field.
One of those existing programs was the Elevate 360 program of the Elevar Foundation, which brings exceptional musical performances to underserved and isolated groups, including local Alzheimer Community Care Day Centers. Led by Executive Director Jill Arbetter, Elevar also presents free multisensory musical experiences for sight-impaired audiences from Lighthouse for the Blind of the Palm Beaches, and working in partnership with Foundcare, Inc., brings live musical performances into small community clinics to reduce patient stress and enhance staff morale.
A collaboration between the Elevar Foundation and Alzheimer's Community Care brings lively music to care facilities and sparks smiles, toe-tapping, and singing from audience members.Among the earliest new programs to emerge in Palm Beach County was a partnership between Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens (ANSG) and Indian Ridge School, a dedicated school for children with EEPs.
Indian Ridge students enjoy monthly field trips to Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach for expressive arts therapy in a serene, art-filled environment. The program is now in its third year and serves K-12 students.Now in its third year, ANSG’s Education Director Yelda Adiguzelli-Dugan notes:
“The valuable insights gained through our work with Neuroarts have allowed us to incorporate emotional check-ins into our pre- and post-assessments across all our programs—not just those at Indian Ridge. This has been a powerful and impactful shift.”
An ever-broadening tapestry of neuroarts activity has evolved since the formation of our CNC. Public interest in neuroarts is mounting as South Florida PBS and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts are both producing neuroarts-focused events and programs annually. The higher education, arts, and neuroscience communities at Florida Atlantic University are now exploring potential partnerships and research/learning opportunities for the College of Arts and Sciences in partnership with the Stiles Nicholson Brain Institute and its new Center for the Resilient Mind.
Armory Art Center was the setting for an October 2025 “Train the Brain” event called “Neuroarts, Stress Management, and Emotional Resiliency.” Focusing on the neurochemical impacts of stress, the program presented arts-based techniques for reducing cortisol levels and building emotional resiliency across the lifespan and was set amidst art exhibitions and studio spaces. Participants rotated between sessions of free association drawing, mindfulness, and group music making presented by Brian Wood, LMHC; Palm Beach Transcendental Meditation Center Co-Director, Elaine Pomfrey; and neuroscientist and music/memory researcher, Dr. Patricia Izbicki.
The October 2025 event, "Neuroarts, Stress Management, and Emotional Resiliency" at the Armory Art Center allowed participants to experience a variety of arts-based interventions for calming stress. Top row: Brian Wood, LMHC from Healing Art, LLC, leads a free association drawing activity, while Dr. Jon Sperry, LMHC and Professor of Mental Health Counseling at Lynn University, tries out an EEG headband and meditation tracker. Bottom row, left: Meditation exercises and stretching led by Elaine Pomfrey. Bottom row, right: Dr. Patricia Izbicki, neuroscientist, responds to questions from the audience. Photographs by Coastal Click Photography.
Dr. Bama Lutes Deal recommends a list of arts-based activities to help manage stress. Photograph by Coastal Click Photography“The Art of Care” was another neuroarts-focused October 2025 “Train the Brain” outcome. It’s a month-long series of weekly creative arts programs for caregivers aged 60+.
“The Art of Care,” originated as a mini-Discovery Report presentation at a CNC meeting in December 2024. It’s grown into a free arts-based stress reduction program of creativity, nature-inspired mindfulness, music and dance practices for caregivers ages 60+ offered in partnership with Healthier Boynton Beach. Facilitators/creators include (L to R) Shabrae Jackson, Dr. Kristen N. Pender, and Elayna Toby Singer. It's impossible to list all that has been accomplished since the PBC Neuroarts Collaborative began, and these examples represent only some of our community’s creative and thoughtful responses to the Neuroarts Blueprint. The growing CNC recently added a leadership team to deepen future impact.
I will forever be indebted to the Board of Trustees at Palm Health Foundation for their visionary leadership; to CEO Patrick McNamara and Executive Vice President Abigail Goodwin for their steadfast guidance; and to Carrie Browne, Director of Stewardship and Strategic Partnerships, Heather DeStefano, Director of Grants and Community Partnerships, Vanessa Moss, Director of Communications, and Brandy Shaw, Stewardship Manager for their transformational teamwork and unwavering commitment to community health in Palm Beach County.
