Supervisor Hilda L. Solis Declares Arts and Health Week, Advocates for Integrating Arts and Culture into Health, Wellbeing and Recovery

In a motion authored by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared the week of June 10, 2024 as Arts and Health Week. 

There is growing research that demonstrates the arts have a positive impact across physical, mental and public health. Recognizing that the benefits of the arts are many, and that everyone deserves to have equal access to them, the motion highlights the collaborative efforts of LA Opera, the LA County Department of Arts and Culture and County health departments already underway. 

The motion encourages continued growth of this work and the county’s strategies and services at the intersection of arts and health.

The motion asserts the importance that the arts, when implemented into service through cross-sector collaboration, are integral to equity and to healthy communities across aspects of civic life, from education, youth development, justice reform and prevention, health, infrastructure, aging and more. It also highlights that the arts can have a positive influence across social determinants of health, which are the conditions in the environments where people live, work, and play, to promote health equity for all. The five social determinants of health domains include economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment and social and community context.

Recognition of the role of the arts in health continues to grow, yet there is still more work to do to maximize this momentum and integrate arts and culture into our health, civic, and community infrastructure. LA County must ensure everyone has access to the arts, continue to utilize the arts in cross-sector strategies, and increase awareness of the power of arts for health. These cross-sector efforts also actualize the goals of the Countywide Cultural Policy, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2020 and directs county departments to integrate arts and culture into their strategies and services.

For the third year, LA Opera will host the Arts and Health Week Summit on June 14. Its goal is to encourage greater understanding of the connection between arts, health, and wellbeing, and build collaborative practices. The event is advised by renowned soprano and arts and health advocate Renée Fleming, in collaboration with Supervisor Solis, the Department of Arts and Culture, Healing Arts — an initiative of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, and the World Health Organization.

In addition to convening the summit, there are several cross-sector collaborations underway. The Department of Arts and Culture has initiated a growing body of work at the intersection of arts and health, working across its various divisions and in collaborations with a wide range of county departments including Public Health, Mental Health, Health Services, Aging and Disabilities, Children and Family Services, Public Works, the Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department or JCOD, and others. This work includes commissioning civic art at county hospitals and facilities; providing healing-centered arts education and Creative Wellbeing programs to support young people and adults who care for them in schools, foster care facilities, residential treatment programs and temporary shelter care facilities. Further, it awards grants to community-based organizations delivering access to arts and culture activities for communities; providing referrals to arts programs for adults released from incarceration, and their families, as part of reentry services; and placing artists with county departments in its Creative Strategist Artist in Residence program.

“We have long lived the credo that the arts are vital to the human experience, enabling us to commune with joy, wonder, fascination, curiosity, excitement—but most of all, to one another,” said Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera’s Sebastian Paul and Marybelle Musco President and CEO. “To have the enthusiastic support of Los Angeles County as a leading partner for the Arts and Health Week, amplifying this message, is incredibly gratifying. A great deal of groundbreaking research in arts and health research is taking place in our County and I’m so proud that this important annual event shines a much-deserved spotlight on the amazing work that has been accomplished. Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture deserve a standing ovation for everything that they have done to make Arts and Health Week a truly transformational event.”

Kristin Sakoda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture said arts and cultural practices have been utilized for healing since time immemorial. 

“Now, there is growing research that the arts positively contribute to wellbeing across our lifespans, prevention of illness, promotion of health, recovery from trauma, and bettering the conditions in which we live, work, learn, and play, also known as the social determinants of health, said Sakoda. “This is a moment of opportunity—artists, arts and health organizations, public sector leaders, funders, and County partners can make strides by coming together with a cross-sector approach to weaving arts interventions into policies, programs, and services.”

Details: An overview of arts and health at the Departments of Arts and Culture and Public Health can be found here.

lacountyarts.org