Blaze through any feelings of seasonal malaise with the stroke of a brush or a stoke of the creative fires, where just participating in artistic activities from painting to performing can be the last piece to maintaining a balanced sense of physical, mental, and social health.
The strength of this connection may vary per person, but as research indicates its powerful capabilities to keep minds sharp, bodies in shape, and friends in shared spaces, many are more than eager to reinforce the impact of these studies with their own lived experiences.
Arts & Health Mercer is a county-wide initiative that unites creative and cultural organizations in Mercer County to emphasize how artistic expression can improve both individual and community wellbeing.
The new coalition launches its inaugural observance of Arts and Health Month this November with events and programs promoting the health benefits of the arts, complete with an opening celebration and reception at the Robert Wood Johnson Fitness and Wellness Center in Hamilton Township on Saturday, November 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The free event takes place at 3100 Quakerbridge Road and is open to the public with interactive workshops fit for the entire family.
For a schedule and a list of upcoming events, see the Arts & Health Mercer website at artshealthmercer.org.
The Arts & Health Mercer steering committee includes organizations such as Art Against Racism, the Arts Council of Princeton, McCarter Theatre, Morven Museum & Garden, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Princeton University Concerts, the Princeton University Art Museum, the Princeton Public Library, and West Windsor Arts, many of which will present at the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness for the official launch of the project.
Aylin Green is the executive director of the West Windsor Arts Council. The Lambertville resident — also an educator and artist in her own right whose work ranges from mixed media paintings to cast metal sculptures — has spent eight years at the head of the nonprofit organization based in the Princeton Junction section of West Windsor at 952 Alexander Road.
She explained that the Arts & Health Mercer initiative evolved from a pandemic-era support group where arts and culture leaders who had been meeting virtually “just to support one another, to provide a forum for us to talk to each other about what was going on at our respective organizations and how we were handling the pandemic and its effect on our operations, visitors, and constituents, and was really helpful in that way.”
Green explained that this naturally led to conversations about how to collaborate and build on “synergy that had already existed” from working together previously, and they found their answer in November’s observance as Arts and Health Month.
“We all realized that many of us were doing arts and health programming here and there throughout, some with a deeper focus than others, but it certainly was of interest to everyone because we could see how our role was really important in helping people to heal through the pandemic and otherwise,” she said.
While the month is recognized internationally, Green noted that, to their knowledge, New Jersey had not yet designated November as Arts and Health Month.
Representatives of the groups “thought that would be a great opportunity for us to co-promote a series of programs that we would develop individually or in collaboration” under the new umbrella of Arts & Health Mercer, Green added, in realization of such an important alliance.
According to Green, this sense of community-wide teamwork has “been one of the touchstones” of her role at WWAC, as well as the “key driving force” that inspired her to take on a leadership position for the steering committee with added support from the Princeton University Art Museum and its director, James Steward, as well as the Princeton Public Library.
Although the majority of the groups involved are from the greater Princeton area, Green stated that Arts & Health Mercer will continue to expand its network and has an “open invitation” for entities from all over Mercer County to join and list their respective November events online.
Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, for example, has shared details about its morning wellness walks that take place on the first Thursday of every month.
Green noted that the Arts & Health Mercer site serves as a single location where people can browse a wide range of activities, workshops, and speaking engagements across the region’s disciplines.
While some are more focused on one side or the other, she added, “There’s always this intersection between the arts and health.”
Events
Experience the catharsis of putting a personal story to paper with the Morven Museum & Garden and the Princeton Public Library workshop “Writing Toward Hope and Healing,” where poet-author Shawn Jones shares the true power of perseverance in the face of trauma on Sunday, November 5, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Morven Museum & Garden’s Stockton Education Center, 55 Stockton Street in Princeton.
Another discussion, “An Evening with Jhumpa Lahiri in Conversation with Zahid Chaudhary,” brings the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and translator who recently served as a professor of creative writing at Princeton University back to campus for a night of discussion with Chaudhary, an English department faculty member and Institute for Advanced Study fellow.
Lahiri will talk about “her newest collection of short stories, which she wrote in Italian and then co-translated into English, about her life’s work, and about the power of translation” in this collaboration between McCarter Theatre, Labyrinth Books, and the Princeton Public Library at the McCarter Theatre Center’s Matthews Theater on Thursday, November 2, at 7:30 p.m. Every ticket comes with a complimentary copy of Lahiri’s latest book, “Roman Stories.”
Green is looking forward to the Princeton University Concerts’ “The Beat Goes On: Healing from Cancer through Music” program with musician Jon Batiste and author Suleika Jaouad on Wednesday, November 15, at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall.
Although the event has since sold out, PUC stated on its website that any “turned back tickets will be made available at 11 a.m. daily and 45 minutes before the event at the box office.”
After graduating from Princeton University in 2010, Jaouad was hospitalized with leukemia and found solace in writing about her cancer in “Life, Interrupted,” a syndicated New York Times column that then became an Emmy-winning video series.
According to PUC materials, she shared how her longtime partner, Batiste — the composer, bandleader, and musical director who won Album of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022 — brought his band to play live music for her and others in the oncology ward, bringing comfort to a space typically deprived of such sounds.
The program starts this season of the PUC’s “Healing with Music” series “with a conversation, permeated by live performance[s] of works meaningful to Suleika’s recovery, about music’s role through illness and how they have managed to convert isolation into art.”
“The Beat Goes On” is also part of a three-pronged effort connecting PUC with other Arts & Health Mercer groups, the first of which is a book club with the Princeton Public Library on Jaouad’s book, “Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted,” on Wednesday, November 1, both in person at PPL and later via Zoom.
PPL adult programming manager Janie Hermann and PUC outreach manager Dasha Koltunyuk lead the discussions of “Between Two Kingdoms,” which, as per the PUC page for the event, “follows Suleika Jaouad’s incredible battle with cancer, her journey with introspection once she recovered, and the role creativity played throughout.”
The theme of restoration continues with an embroidery circle workshop facilitated by local artist and activist Diana Weymar, a frequent collaborator of Jaouad, for a new iteration of “Interwoven Stories,” Weymar’s “community-based narrative stitching project,” at the Arts Council of Princeton on Friday, November 17.
Another series, “Drawing Nature from the Collections,” pairs artist Barbara DiLorenzo from the Arts Council of Princeton with the Princeton University Art Museum for free weekly online lessons where attendees reinterpret a nature-themed work from the PUAM collection every Thursday in November at 8 p.m.
Attendees will learn how to create perspective and choose a color palette while observing works by artists such as Paul Cézanne and Howard Russell Butler.
WWAC covers many creative bases with an “Open Mouth Poetry” session where poets ages 15 and older can read their original works to a “supportive audience,” as well as the annual “Off the Wall” holiday market and affordable art show that also opens on November 19.
But what Green draws attention to are the workshops — priced accordingly for both members and non-members with additional material fees as required — where attendees can construct mental health card boxes that serve as a physical representation of keeping the eight Dimensions of Wellness in harmony, string together diffuser lava bead bracelets with soothing essential oils, or make decorative, scented soaps for practicing self-care.
“At West Windsor Arts, we created several workshops specifically for the Arts & Health initiative that are geared towards craft-oriented arts experiences, because we find that not every artistic experience has to be creating your masterwork painting in order to provide personal benefit,” Green added in a quote.
For another change of pace worth its weight in wellness, participants are requested to bring their own yoga mats for a one-hour meditation workshop where they will learn stress-busting breathing practices for escaping that tense headspace one “inhale, exhale, repeat” at a time.
To register in advance or see additional details, times, and more, visit the comprehensive calendar on the Arts & Health Mercer event page, artshealthmercer.org/events.
Opening Celebration
Green explained that RWJUH joined the Arts & Health Mercer project and donated the use of its Conference Center at the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness to kick off the month-long commemoration on November 4 — a fitting choice, given that RWJUH regularly hosts exhibits at its own on-campus site, the Lakefront Art Gallery.
“They connect the arts in a lot of their programming, and we have had partnerships with them in the past, and so they were very supportive of this initiative,” Green said.
“We’re going to have interactive workshops for the public from 10 to noon, and those will all be presented by various organizations [that] are supporting this effort.”
There will also be a presentation by keynote speaker Christina D. Eskridge, the founder and executive director of the New York-based Elevate Theatre Company.
Elevate, which the performing and teaching artist also founded during the pandemic in 2020, communicates the strength of community storytelling through a wellness-oriented lens that encourages participation in arts-based workshops and bridges the gap to health resources.
Green discovered Eskridge, who has a master of public health from UC Berkeley, through Alyson “Aly” Maier Lokuta, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s senior director of arts and wellbeing.
Lokuta spearheaded efforts for NJPAC to partner with the Rutgers School of Public Health and Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts to launch an interdisciplinary Arts in Health Research Lab earlier this year.
The pilot program intends to synthesize scientific study and data collection throughout these fields to further analyze the effect of the arts on health.
Lokuta recommended Eskridge, whom she worked with as board members of the National Organization for Arts in Health, or NOAH.
Her public health background fit perfectly with what Arts & Health Mercer was looking for in a speaker, and Eskridge will now deliver her midday address from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
The day’s agenda incorporates both drop-in and timed workshops, with the latter starting every half hour.
Previously mentioned local figures like PPL librarian Hermann run a storytime session from 10 to 10:30 a.m. with a related craft by ACP author-illustrator DiLorenzo.
Meanwhile, theatrical games featuring Breanna Lemerise of McCarter Theatre and art making with the Princeton University Art Museum, both of which are ongoing throughout the morning, are examples of activities that can be joined at any time.
Lemerise reappears for the next half-hour workshop with one dedicated to physical storytelling, while Morven Museum & Garden’s Greer Luce, the curator of education and public programs, leads a “ripped words” poetry project perfect for those just passing by.
A storytime with Monah Yancy of Passage Theater, accompanied by viola player Beth Meyers of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, will then run until 11:30 a.m., followed by an “instrument petting zoo” where people are allowed to try out the musical devices on display.
At the same time, the Princeton Public Library fills the free period with puzzles and kids’ crafts.
Guests can learn about local resources at the vendor alley, where the arts education and advocacy group Arts Ed NJ, as well as the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, will be available from noon to 4 p.m.
As the day draws to a close, the 3 p.m. reception features light fare and refreshments from Jersey Girl Cafe, the cozy Hamilton eatery that appeared on Guy Fieri’s Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” while Arts & Health Mercer partners present and share information about their upcoming events.
Green added that while Arts & Health Mercer will return every year for Arts and Health Month in November, they are open to helping other counties implement similar initiatives to foster a future where integrating the arts and wellness results in happier, healthier communities.
“This is really just a starting point,” she said.
Green then contacted Senator Shirley Turner, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, and Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli of District 15, who issued a joint legislative resolution recognizing November as Arts & Health Month and the work of Arts & Health Mercer.
Despite its current lack of statewide adoption or practice, Green feels strongly about being able to convey the deeply transformative power of creativity.
“In my work as the director at West Windsor Arts, with some of the projects that I like to get involved with, I’ve often seen a direct correlation between how the arts affect people’s health and wellbeing,” she began.
Green recalled working with the Mercer County Minority Concerns Committee on an annual “Girls Forum” where Trenton teenagers were invited to seminars and workshops on subjects ranging from self-empowerment to cyberbullying.
These events always included an art project, she explained, which would sometimes bring a more reserved person out of their shell.
“I remember one time in particular, a young woman came in, seemingly not wanting to be there, but once we got started with the art project, she really came alive and became engaged, started talking to her neighbors at her table, [and] said things like, ‘I like art,’” she explained.
“Just in the matter of a half an hour to see the change in someone’s demeanor, and then being able to go from there and be more receptive to the other seminars that followed in the day? It’s just one example, one personal experience, where I could see the effect immediately upon an individual.”
That experience is a strong indication of what the arts can mean for people, Green said, as well as the approachability it provides for people from all walks of life.
As the executive director is preparing for Arts & Health Mercer programming, she reiterated that the arts are for and should be accessible to everyone, as each person equally deserves the opportunity to discover their creative outlet of choice.
Wellness is a balancing act, but indulging one’s sense of imagination this November can be just the move that unites the body and mind towards achieving that equilibrium.
More information: www.artshealthmercer.org.
