Americans for the Arts

“Art is a constant agent of transformation and is indeed the soul’s drive to health.”
Cathy Malchiodi, Ph.D., Art Therapist

You know the old adage, “If you have your health, you have everything.” In seeking health, whether it’s your own, a loved one’s, or in a community, the arts can be a powerful, even transformational component. A growing body of research and expanding practice confirm this belief. As such, arts and healthcare is becoming more recognized as a compelling platform for creating public value and policy. 

Jada Quin is a 17-year-old singer-songwriter residing in Howell, NJ. She incorporates her own life experiences and those of others around her into her soul-searching lyrics. We had a wonderful conversation and it was great to share ways that our passions—music and visual art—while different from each other, provide us with similar delight and comfort and are indispensable parts of our lives. Coincidentally, but not surprisingly, we both took a path toward developing our talents with the help of an inspired arts educator.

At times I have been asked, “How did you find your career path in the arts?” Actually, it’s more often phrased, “How’d you get in this business?” I have held a number of wonderful posts, both public and private, and am currently Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for ArtPride New Jersey, the state arts advocacy organization. My story is evolutionary, organic, and having tilled these fields for over 30 years, long. In this age of sound bites I’ll boil it down to this—“teachers and inspiring leaders.” For me and so many others, it all started with an art teacher.

The 2015 Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention was also my first visit to Chicago. Having arrived early, I heard that the Chicago Architecture Foundation offered outstanding tours. I arranged to join the “Must See Chicago,” tour and was not disappointed. My inner geek enjoyed learning about Daniel Burnham, bundled tube construction, and remembering the contributions to mid-century modern architecture of Mies van der Rohe from art history class. While I spent a considerable amount of time “looking up” at numerous behemoth skyscrapers, I was grounded by a treasure trove of public art. It felt like opening a new box of crayons-truly inspirational. That was only the beginning of my #AFTACON inspiration.