Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Reflection on the Intersection of Arts and Health

Arts and culture enrich our lives, our communities, and our nation. In this pivotal moment in our history, there is a growing recognition that the arts reveal new ideas, unlock opportunities, and help us confront the many challenges before us. On January 30, 2024, the White House Domestic Policy Council and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) co-hosted Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities, a first-of-its-kind convening to share insights and explore opportunities for arts organizations and artists to contribute to the health and well-being of individuals and communities, invigorate physical spaces, fuel democracy, and foster equitable outcomes. In this blog series, you’ll hear from the many diverse perspectives represented at the event—including government officials, policymakers, artists, advocates, academics, and arts leaders—as they share what ideas and inspiration they took from the experience, and how they’re working to advance a broader understanding of how arts and culture can contribute to other fields and unlock new opportunities for artists.

My journey into the intersection of art and health began with a meeting in my office. 

Renowned soprano and Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor-at-Large Renée Fleming sat down with a paper full of questions and ideas. Why does the music she sings bring people together in such a tangible way? What is the mechanism by which art affects our brain and improves our health? And how could we create a partnership between artists, scientists, and doctors to share and advance research around music, art, and health? 

Of course, like all of us called to work in the arts, I had an innate understanding that engaging in art was good for me—mind, body, and spirit. It uplifted me and my community, but I realized I had the same questions as Renée.

Out of that meeting, and in collaboration with Renée, Dr. Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health, the NEA and the Kennedy Center, Sound Health (which also led to the creation of the Sound Health Network) was formed. I never could have imagined, nearly a decade later, the impact that this type of work would be having across society. 

Throughout the Healing, Bridging, Thriving Summit, I thought back on that meeting with Renée, grateful to now explore the topic with some of the most influential leaders across art, science, and public policy. 

At the summit we discussed art as a tool to overcome societal challenges, sharing experiences from our own communities about how music, dance, or visiting a museum can heal our bodies and minds. We said—and we know—that the arts help us heal and help us thrive. But we also said that they do more than that. The arts help us live. 

There was one phrase that stuck with me: the idea of living an “artful life.” To me, this means understanding the importance of art in every aspect of our existence. An artful life makes the lows more bearable and the highs more exciting. It gives us a safe space to return to in our daily routines of work, school-pickups, and errands. An artful life elevates the mundane to the extraordinary, and as science shows, completes our health.

The World Health Organization defines health as “a fundamental right” and “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being…not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” One need only look at the epidemic of loneliness we are facing to realize that total health goes beyond our blood pressure, cholesterol, or other physical markers. Living a healthy life requires more than a healthy body—it requires human connection. It requires living an artful life. 

Some of my favorite days at the Kennedy Center are ones with a packed schedule, bringing together people from all walks of life for a shared experience. I don’t know what our guests were facing before they arrived, and I don’t know the challenges they will encounter when they leave. But I do know one thing: their lives will be better because today they experienced art.

The data and the anecdata—the examples we’ve all experienced of art’s life-changing impact—are conclusive: Art is good for our health. Art is good for our communities.

So, as I think about my takeaways from January’s summit, I feel we are at an inflection point. It is time to take an artful life from something present in policy and papers and make it part of our everyday healthy habits. How do we make artful living as important as eating our veggies, getting eight hours of sleep, and hitting 10,000 steps?

The idea of walking 10,000 steps a day, one of the most common healthy habits, didn’t come from a research paper or a policy decision. It originated in a 1964 marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer. There was nothing specific about 10,000 steps. It was, however, well documented that being active was good for you. Walking had a low barrier of entry for most people, and 10,000 steps was an encouraging but attainable goal. The campaign took off, and revolutionized the way we think about activity. 

Today, I am challenging myself to think about art in the same way. It’s time for art and culture to have a 10,000 steps moment.

The power of the 10,000 steps is that it encourages movement, but it doesn’t tell you how. It doesn’t argue that to be healthy you need to jump in headfirst and run, play tennis, or join a team. It simply encourages little daily habits that add up to big impact. Park your car a little further away. Walk during your next work call. Take your family to the park. 

Similarly, living an artful life isn’t just about going to the symphony or ballet. Yes, there's nothing like coming together for a live performance, but an artful life also includes the parent who encourages their child to color, the teacher using an arts-integrated curriculum, the doctor bringing musicians into the hospital, and the employer allowing staff to leave work early for a piano lesson.

We must advocate for research and policy; people cannot take advantage of resources that do not exist, and access to arts is far from equitable. However, simply providing programs and making recommendations does not result in broad adoption. It is part of our responsibility as leaders to ensure that having an artful life comes with a low barrier of entry.

What would the result be if alongside tickets to children’s concerts we provided coloring books of all the instruments in the symphony? What if hospitals sent patients home not only with a prescription but with a playlist of music, or if social prescribing was available nationwide? Recently I have been meeting with CEOs to discuss how employers and cultural organizations can better collaborate. How do we get to a place where every employee in this country receives access to cultural experiences as part of their benefits package? Imagine a doctor’s visit where you’re asked how many times a week you engage with art.

When artful living becomes synonymous with healthy living, the possibilities are endless. That’s the future we now must work toward. And maybe one day we’ll even have an Apple Watch that not only reminds us to meet our step goal, but to have our daily dose of art as well.

Sitting at the intersection of art, innovation, and public policy, Deborah F. Rutter is the President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a position she has held since September 2014. Prior to that she held executive leadership roles at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony.  AT the Kennedy Center, Rutter oversees the production, presentation, and curation of more than 2,000 diverse performances each year, guides the Center’s global network of over 40 education initiatives reaching more than 2.1 million individuals, and curates our nation’s living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. Across all her work, Rutter emphasizes the vital role arts can play in our everyday lives.