Voices from the Field: Christopher Bailey
August 8th, 2025
In this powerful installment of Voices from the Field, NeuroArts Blueprint Co-Director Susan Magsamen sits down with Christopher Bailey, a global trailblazer at the intersection of arts and health.
Posted bySamuel Garrett
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Abstract/Description
In this powerful installment of Voices from the Field, NeuroArts Blueprint Co-Director Susan Magsamen sits down with Christopher Bailey, a global trailblazer at the intersection of arts and health. As the visionary behind the World Health Organization’s Healing Arts Initiative, Christopher has been instrumental in building a worldwide network of research centers dedicated to advancing the science and practice of how the arts can improve physical, mental and social well-being. Susan and Christopher explore how the arts can mend trauma, bridge cultural divides, and spark community resilience. From movement and music to storytelling and visual expression, this conversation vividly brings to life the profound ways creative expression fosters human connection, meaning, and well-being across the globe.
Christopher Bailey is the Arts & Health Lead at WHO Headquarters. Educated at Columbia and Oxford Universities and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, after a career as a professional actor and playwright, Christopher joined the Rockefeller Foundation as its Research Manager. From there he was recruited by WHO, where he led its health informatics work, and later its online communications team, before starting the Arts & Health programme.
Bailey has performed original pieces such as Stage 4: Cancer and the Imagination, and The Vanishing Point: A journey into Blindness and Perception. The message of his work is to amplify the WHO definition of health, which states that health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity but the attainment of the highest level of physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
Interested in being featured on the Neuroarts Resource Center? We welcome proposals for guest blog posts, interviews, and other editorial features. To be considered, please reach out through our Contact Us form.
Christopher Bailey is the Arts & Health Lead at WHO Headquarters. Educated at Columbia and Oxford Universities and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, after a career as a professional actor and playwright, Christopher joined the Rockefeller Foundation as its Research Manager. From there he was recruited by WHO, where he led its health informatics work, and later its online communications team, before starting the Arts & Health programme.
Bailey has performed original pieces such as Stage 4: Cancer and the Imagination, and The Vanishing Point: A journey into Blindness and Perception. The message of his work is to amplify the WHO definition of health, which states that health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity but the attainment of the highest level of physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
Interested in being featured on the Neuroarts Resource Center? We welcome proposals for guest blog posts, interviews, and other editorial features. To be considered, please reach out through our Contact Us form.
