ART of Health Grant Program to Raise Awareness of Community Health Issues

The Greater Hartford Arts Council launched the ART of Health Grant program, which funds programs that are using the arts to raise awareness of the complex societal, environmental and personal factors that impact health and well-being. This program is made possible by a grant from the Cigna Foundation.

Rather than focus on cultivating health as primarily an individual and personal pursuit (promoting healthy lifestyles and exercising, for example), funded programs will acknowledge the inter-relatedness of the personal and societal dimensions of health an embrace the notion that participation in artistic activity itself can be a pathway to healthier living.

"The Cigna Foundation is pleased to support an imaginative, uplifting, arts-focused preventative health program that will engage the community in cultivating a culture of health, and which recognizes that health can be impacted by the joy of artistic endeavors," said Susan Stith, Executive Director, Cigna Foundation.

Organizations that are funded through the program will serve the Greater Hartford community, with priority given to organizations serving economically challenged populations in cities such as Hartford, East Hartford or New Britain. A call for letters of intent is now underway. Details can be found on our website at LetsGoArts.org/ArtofHealth. Grant recipients from this pilot initiative will be announced in July 2019. The ART of Health program was also picked up in the Hartford Courant.

For additional information about our granting programs, visit LetsGoArts.org/Grant-Programs.

- Dan Deutsch, Marketing & Communications Manager
GHAC