CALL FOR COLLABORATION: Mobilizing the Arts for COVID-19 Communication and Coping

COVID-19 is a public health crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Individual and collective behaviors are contributing significantly to the steep upward curve of COVID-19 incidence as people struggle to adhere and adapt to social distancing, shelter-in-place measures, and sudden financial uncertainties. 

The arts are one the of the most powerful means for communication and coping we have at our disposal today.

This Call for Collaboration offers examples and resources for using to arts to advance support communication, connection, coping and wellbeing in the COVID-19 crisis. It invites public health, arts and culture, and community development professionals, programs and agencies to:

• Engage and pay artists
• Collaborate
• Source reliable information
• Adapt programming
• Facilitate connection
• Think long-term

Download the Call for Collaboration HERE. 

This brief was created by the following contributors and reviewers:

• Jill Sonke, University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
• Tasha Golden, UF Center for Arts in Medicine; Johns Hopkins International Arts & Mind Lab
• Jamie Hand, ArtPlace America
• Jenny Lee, UF Center for Arts in Medicine
• Keely Mason, UF Center for Arts in Medicine
• Theresa Sweetland, Forecast Public Art 
• Jamie Bennett, Lyz Crane, and Sarah Westlake, ArtPlace America
• Margy Waller, TOPOS
• Victor Rubin, PolicyLink
• Sarah McKune, University of Florida Department of Environmental and Global Health
• Amy Bucciarelli, UF Center for Arts in Medicine
• Kelley Sams, UF Center for Arts in Medicine
• Danya Sherman, Sherman Cultural Strategies
• Nupur Chaudhury, New York State Health Foundation  

Published by: The University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine in partenrship with ArtPlace America

Suggested citation: Sonke, J., Golden, T., Hand, J., Lee, J., Mason, K. (2020). Mobilizing the Arts for COVID-19 Communication and Coping. University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. 

Copyright © April 2020. University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. Permission is granted for reproduction of this file, with attribution to University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine.

Graphic design by MESH

Citations

1. Sonke, J., & Pesata, V. (2015). The arts and health messaging: Exploring the evidence and lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak. BMJ.
2. Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Nakazibwe, V., Ssenyonjo, J., Lloyd, R., Espino, D., ... & Kerrigan, M. (2018). The arts and health communication in Uganda: A light under the table. Health communication, 33(4), 401-408. ANDHuss, E., Kaufman, R., Avgar, A., & Shuker, E. (2016). Arts as a vehicle for community building and post‐disaster development. Disasters, 40(2), 284-303.
3. Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Nakazibwe, V., Ssenyonjo, J., Lloyd, R., Espino, D., ... & Kerrigan, M. (2018). The arts and health communication in Uganda: A light under the table. Health communication, 33(4), 401-408. 
4. Dadswell, A., Wilson, C., Bungay, H., & Munn-Giddings, C. (2017). The role of participatory arts in addressing the loneliness and social isolation of older people: A conceptual review of the literature. Journal of Arts & Communities, 9(2), 109-128. AND Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Nakazibwe, V., Ssenyonjo, J., Lloyd, R., Espino, D., ... & Kerrigan, M. (2018). The arts and health communication in Uganda: A light under the table. Health communication, 33(4), 401-408. 
5. Fancourt D, Finn S. What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2019 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 67).
6. Fletcher, S., Cox, R. S., Scannell, L., Heykoop, C., Tobin-Gurley, J., & Peek, L. (2016). Youth creating disaster recovery and resilience: A multi-site arts-based youth engagement research project. Children, Youth and Environments, 26(1), 148-163. AND Stone, R. M. (2017). “Ebola in Town”: Creating Musical Connections in Liberian Communities during the 2014 Crisis in West Africa. Africa Today, 63(3), 79-97.