THE ARTS MAKE AMERICA GREAT

The ARTS in Health,Healthy Individuals,Healthy Communities For artist Jennifer Allison, everyday sounds can be overwhelming, certain clothes feel like rubbing against a cactus, and the number four is always royal blue. Allison suffers from a neurological condition called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), which causes her brain to react to stimuli in illogical and sometimes painful ways. Through her wild, yet intimate life story, Allison shares her attempts to cope with SPD, and how rediscovering art saved her life and transformed her world “from pain and chaos to mesmerizing awe and wonder.” About Jennifer Allison: At UPS, Jennifer Allison designs applications that allow customers to complete complex tasks that feel simple. Inspired by her personal experiences, she leads her UX team with a rare philosophy: designing solutions for disabled users will ultimately improve the experience for all customers. A user interface designer by day, by night, she is an artist. She is an avid pai...

How the arts can help communities recover from natural disasters and become more resilient By  Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP As our friends in Texas and the Southeast work through the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it may seem an odd time to think about the arts.  But the arts can help hard-hit communities with their local economies and prepare for the next natural disaster. Creative industries can be among the first to bounce back,  as Mt. Auburn Associates found in their study of Louisiana after Katrina.   Researchers found that the cultural economy in Louisiana grew faster than the overall economy in the state between 2005 and 2007.  Actors, musicians, painters, and other artists tend to be mobile, and can often practice their crafts in a variety of locations.  So they don’t need a factory or big office building to come back online to work. The arts can also help us recover emotionally.  After Superstorm Sandy in New J...

                       Andrea Green Reflection – Changing the World, One Musical at a Time When I was 12 years old my Dad would take me with him on house calls and to the nursing home where he was the medical director. He would ask me to bring my guitar and play and sing for his patients.  I would go from room to room, making connections with people who desperately needed to be noticed and heard.  They would talk to me about their pain, their fears, their hopes and their dreams and I would respond by playing music and creating songs that I felt reflected their feelings and experience.   I remember one woman in particular who was battling crippling arthritis singing out “I wanna get my feet a goin’, fly on out of here. Standing on my own again…(to which I added)…on this my mind is clear”. Immediately, we were collaborating on a song about her life.  The deep empathy I discovered within myself allowed...

                                                                            Feast of Crispian                                                                   Shakespeare with Veterans My personal story,Nancy Smith-Watson which becomes the story of Feast of Crispian: Growing up in a dysfunctional and traumatic environment, the arts were my savior from very early on. They gave me a way of speaking about what I saw and felt and hoped for without giving away anything that might get me into trouble.  My first experience with Shakespeare was seeing Midsummer Nights Dream when I was 5 years old and falling in love wit...