Arts For The Health Of It

Dr. Larew helped to guide international food security programs for the US government.  And so he has a strong interest in hunger issues.  He is also an active poet and founded Poetry X Hunger as a way to enlist many, many poets to write Speak Back to Hunger through their poetry. Hearts Conference 2022 Poerty X Hunger

Maria Katharine Ramsey is a visual artist, poet, musician, herbalist, certified feng shui practitioner, and creativity guide. Her mission is to uncover more beauty, creativity, and magic in the world. She does this by creating her own art as well as helping artistic beings to craft supportive creative practices. PLUS Maria teaches us how to set up a creative space at home that doesn't have to take...

"The essence of life is joy." – Tony Swaby Tony is a portrait artist, who discovered his love of his arts during his experience with cancer. He shares some of his resources to help people find their joy. Connect with Tony at tonyswaby.com

"Art creates a balance in my life. It creates an outlet. I create something every day, and I am so blessed to have the skills, the opportunities, the gifts, the support." - Joe Hausch Two UW-Milwaukee Alum walk into a podcast..... Joe Hausch has been called many things, mostly in this order: Artist, Entrepreneur, Designer, Inventor, Musician, and optimist. Half his workday he wears a design and ma...

Spoiler Alert: We’re joining the IHealth Channel! Its creator, Hurricane H, stops by for the big announcement! PLUS Eran Thomson is a writer, director, creative director, and founder also known as "The Joy Pusher."  He's the creator of the music and memory game, SONG SAGA. Playing is simple: Pull cards. Choose songs. Share memories. Best song + story wins. No singing required, just a music ap...

"Holy crap, that’s what I used to look like!" – David Karlinsky, cancer survivor Richard’s dad was diagnosed with cancer in 1992. After years of recurrence and surgeries, he was left without an eye, cheek, or right nostril. He was forced to cover his face in bandages and tape, which made him not even feel like a human being anymore. Tired of the stares and sarcastic questions from strangers, David...

"Happiness is just like yoga, art, and music. We can learn and get better at it." - Dr. Price Chris Price is a family medicine physician in Sacramento California where he has been practicing for the past 20 years.  He's taking a unique approach to his practice and part of that is infusing the arts from the beginning to end of a visit to his office.   His book, Allison’s Gambit , is a ver...

"We needed new memories." - Andrea Carter Brown Andrea Carter Brown lived 1 block away from the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. She thankfully lived to tell about it and has written an entire book of poetry about the days after.  Andrea's new collection of award-winning poetry, September 12 , was published for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Her previous collections are Domestic Kar...

"The opposite of addiction is connection." – Wes Geer Wes Geer has been a professional musician for over 20 years.  He's the former guitarist for Korn and founding member of Hed P.E. He's also a producer, author, and founder of Rock to Recovery; a therapeutic music program that helps people have transformation by playing music. Connect with Wes: rocktorecovery.org

"I was a single mom with two kids and a business to run so I didn't have the bandwidth to write." -Kate Nason Kate Nason is a writer who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her debut memoir, Everything is Perfect, was released by Audible in August 2021. Kate holds a BA in Art History from UCLA. She’s currently working on her second book, an exploration of her great-grandmother’s fictitious ancestry. Plate...

"People aren’t just the victims in their stories; they’re the heroes of their stories." – Joyce Hayden Even if you haven't been hurt by domestic violence, someone you know has and wishes they could tell you about it. Perhaps you are a therapist, teacher, academic, or social worker who wants to help those who are suffering. Or maybe you are in an abusive relationship and need to know that you are n...

"I want people to know that there is recovery and there is hope." - Constance Scharff, PhD Tens of thousands of Americans die from substance abuse and suicide each year. Millions more suffer from mental health disorders. Rock to Recovery -- an innovative, therapeutic music program serving more than one hundred addiction treatment and mental health facilities in the USA -- steps into the breach to...

"Creating is so much more restorative than comparing." – Amy Latta Dancer.  Writer.  Crafter.  Author.  Teacher.   Open yourself up to a new world of creativity and art exploration with Amy's new interactive guided journal, Practice Makes Progress . Amy Latta’s colorful prompts will help you let go of perfection and find joy in the process of art. Readers of Amy’s hand let...

"That’s how it happened…by looking around the neighborhood and asking, what’s wrong here? This is not right." – Sharyn Pirtle Sing For Hope has all types of programming around the arts but focuses mainly on music. Their goal is to provide accessibility to those who are isolated and don’t have access to the arts. They work with children and adults. Sharyn’s “Aha!” moment began in a fantastic public...

Some of the same themes come up time and time again during the recordings of this podcast and it continues to reiterate these central themes of how important and why art is so important for our wellbeing. The arts are so important for emotional regulation and mental health and health of communities and these are all things artists just do naturally. Ben Corkery, our guest today, was one of those p...

"I’m not saying I’m the best. I’m saying I’m doing my best." - Federica Bressan We love getting the perspective from different people and their relationship with the arts and how it has impacted their health. Federica Bressan joins us from Italy, who says music saved her life. She has a fascinating story about how music was her saving grace through a difficult childhood. She rediscovered her artis...

Subconsciously I was finding a life vest in the music. His story is so beautiful and such an amazing example of someone who has transformed their own experience with hardship and created a space to serve the people the way he needed to be served. Hear what hip hop therapy is and how JC found it (spoiler alert: GOOGLE) and why it’s effective! He even has some recommendations for a practitioner look...

Screw this! I’m going to pick up a crayon and piece of paper and play around! – Gina Clark Almost everyone will be able to relate to Gina Clark.  Gina is a Creativity Coach but doesn’t come from a professional creative background but came to creativity and creative expression out of her own core need later in life. So many adults haven’t done anything artistic in years and Gina is here to giv...

"You don’t have to cure in order to heal." – Dr. Hassan A Tetteh We’ve probably all had a bad experience with a doctor or healthcare provider. Dr. Tetteh is committed to humanizing healthcare and talks about the importance of arts and humanities for people that are going into the healthcare field and the role that it plays in our health and well-being. He’s so passionate about this that he has wri...

They are part of the world and have so much to share. - Francis LeGasse Jr If you have any elders in your life that you love and you want to know how to care for them better and have a better vision for what elder care can look at for our country then listen to this episode. They’ve given up. They don’t care anymore. They don’t want to learn. FALSE. We’re talking to Blair and Francis from Assured...

"Imagine going to watch a movie or a commercial or sporting event….and there’s no music." – Mindy Peterson It's a cross-over episode with Mindy Peterson of the podcast Enhance Life With Music!   In the Enhance Life with Music podcast, Mindy explores the power of music through the lens of science & health, sports & entertainment, business, and education. The three of us are passionate...

Cathy A. Malchiodi, PhD, holds a doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in research and health psychology and is a clinical mental health counselor, expressive arts therapist, and art therapist who has spent over 30 years working with individuals with traumatic stress and studying how the arts support reparation, integration, and recovery from trauma. She is the founder and executive direct...

"I’ve always felt that art has been a way for me to survive and thrive and I just felt like it was my artistic responsibility to help people with something that meant something to me." – Steve Dilley You may not think that military personnel and the arts would go together but they do! There is a national initiative between the Depart of Defense and the National Endowment of the Arts to bring the a...

What’s fun got to do with it? This episode isn’t just for people who are dealing with dementia. Amy Standridge joins us to talk about music for self-care and the role that humor and play should have in our lives. She also teaches us a simple music activity for when you need a moment to make some noise! Amy has been a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) for over 20 years and has master's degree...

"I write to claim my feelings, allowing me to do with them what I need, to affirm and sit with myself in ways I couldn't otherwise, and to inspire others." - Lorna Rose The arts have the ability to understand ourselves in a deeper way and can lead us into authentic and truthful, honest living. Sometimes what we’re thinking and feeling are dark and painful but the arts can help identify those thing...