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The Berklee Music and Health Institute and the Can We Talk… initiative have joined forces to produce a day of workshops, performances, conversations and community connection at the intersection of art and health.
“Boston Arts Activation 2024: Harmony and Healing,” a celebration focusing on BIPOC communities, is an all-day affair, showcasing artists, performers, health care professionals and thought leaders from the greater Roxbury and Dorchester area. Participants will have the opportunity to experience different arts activations and then learn about how art actively improves mental health and general wellness.
“The arts have been used for generations in communities of color as a way to heal and connect,” says event co-chair Brenda Ross, community and partner engagement director for the music therapy ecosystem at Berklee. “That’s what this day is about — raising up and celebrating the great work happening in our community and linking it to the health benefits that scientific data supports.”
Panelists and featured artists include Ellice Patterson, founder and executive and artistic director of Abilities Dance; dancers from Urbanity Dance and Randolph-based Stajez Cultural Arts Center; percussionist Stephen O’Neal; and many others. Singer Carrie Johnson will perform “Harmony in Healing,” a song by Latin Grammy-winning artist Gen Rubin.
There’s now scientific data to back up the ancient use of art for wellness. Research from the World Health Organization shows that participation in the arts can help with disease prevention, health promotion, management of health conditions and mental health. Ross hopes that by illustrating that link more specifically, folks will use the arts intentionally to support their wellness.
Wyatt Jackson, event co-chair and expressive arts coordinator for Can We Talk…, says, “Our bodies hold trauma. African Americans in particular, and of course Latinx people, Black and brown folks, have been dancing through their trauma forever. They may not have known what we now know about the science of it, but they knew that it made them feel better.”
Can We Talk… is a community network spearheaded by Rev. Liz Walker to provide peer support and fight stigmatization of mental health treatment. The network of therapists, activists and citizens uses communication, community support and artistic expression to help work through trauma. The Berklee Music and Health Institute uses public policy, academia and health care experts to serve local communities using music and the arts.
“Boston Arts Activation 2024: Harmony and Healing” takes place at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Nubian Square on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but there is a capacity limit, and reservations through Eventbrite are required.
Jackson says, “I want [people] to come away with a new song, with a new dance, with a new way of writing their own narrative. I want folks to leave with the memory of what’s possible, seeing people that look like them or not look like them engaging in this idea of health and wellness through the arts.”
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