Engaging in the arts is essential to the overall well being of a community. Practitioners and scholars have long connected the dots between art and health, typically in the form of art therapy. That exploration has now expanded to art and public health. One way to understand the distinction is that art and health/medicine focus on the well being of the individual, while art and public health focus on the well being of a collective or community.
I believe in the power of the arts as a form of health intervention. The infographics below share recent evidence of arts on public health issues like trauma, racism, isolation, mental health, and chronic disease.
She is a self-described Writer/ Performance Artist/ Dancer/ Activist/ Health Educator/ and proud southerner. A natural sign watcher, very much in tune with her surroundings, Ms. Harris finds it almost impossible not to hear the stories hovering around people. Growing up in a multi-talented family, she always felt at peace pursuing her creative interests. However when it came time to choose a career, Cynthia chose to focus on her parallel interest in health and graduated from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a BS in biology in 1999. Her subsequent work in the field of women’s reproductive health research fed her appreciation for the analytical and gave her the opportunity to study human behavior, leading her to not only be a vocal advocate for women’s health issues, but to create stories of empowerment.
Ms. Harris developed her weaving voices technique as she deepened her understanding of the intersection of performance art and public health. In 2017, Ms. Harris completed her Master of Public at Tennessee State University. In 2018, How to Catch a Flying Woman premiered and was commissioned in 2019 by Nashville Public Library. In 2022, The Calling is in the Body debuted with Actors Bridge Ensemble.
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Healing Waters Productions 