June 2023

On Friday, June 9, 2023, LA Opera hosted the second annual Arts and Health Week Summit in partnership with Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Healing Arts—an initiative of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab—and the World Health Organization and organizations from across Los Angeles to explore the connections between arts, wellness and recovery.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL 2023 ARTS AND HEALTH WEEK RECAP:

2023 Arts and Health Week Recap

2023 Summit Schedule 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARTS AND HEALTH WEEK SUMMIT

The June 9, 2023 Arts and Health Week Summit, hosted by LA Opera Connects highlighted the importance of creative aging programs for older adults. Featuring acclaimed soprano and arts in healthcare advocate Renée Fleming alongside local community leaders, the daylong summit also showcased the ways in which the arts support mental health and wellbeing, and how they enrich our lives at all ages. Experience the summit by watching the presentations and panels below.

WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Christopher Koelsch – President and CEO, LA Opera
Tehvon Fowler-Chapman – Former Vice President, LA Opera Connects
Renée Fleming – Advisor for Special Projects, LA Opera
Rachel Moore – President and CEO, The Music Center
The Honorable Hilda L. Solis – Los Angeles County Supervisor, First District

LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN CONVERSATION
Directors of the Los Angeles County Departments of Arts and Culture, Aging and Disabilities and Mental Health explored the role of the arts in aging, disability and in mental health services in the largest county in the U.S. The leaders highlighted ways the arts bring humanity, care and cultural relevance to the work of leading their health agencies and in addressing the challenges of social inclusion and wellbeing.

Moderator: 
Kristin Sakoda – Director, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
Panelists: 
Dr. Laura Trejo – Director, Los Angeles County Department of Aging and Disabilities
Dr. Lisa H. Wong – Director, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health 

CREATIVE AGING IN LOS ANGELES
Arts leaders and senior services practitioners discussed challenges facing older adults, the benefits of creative aging programs, and how we can work across sectors to improve the quality of health and wellbeing for older adult communities.

Moderator:
Tehvon Fowler-Chapman – Former Vice President, LA Opera Connects
Panelists: 
John Kander II – Executive Director, Music Mends Minds
Roxy Kirakosyan – Associate Director of Education & Outreach, Alzheimer’s Los Angeles
Carol Zou – Creative Strategist/Artist, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
Dr. Jennifer Wong – Director, Wallis Annenberg GenSpace

MOMENT OF CREATIVE WELLBEING
Led by Stacie Aamon Yeldell
Participants cultivated moments of peace and presence and learned self-regulation tools through a mindfulness grounding practice. Supported by live guitar, the session was infused with breath and vocal activations, and included call and response and intoning. 

EXPERIENTIAL SESSIONS
LA Opera Connects: Music to Remember with Nani Sinha
Music helps us connect to each other and to our inner selves. Music to Remember is inspired by the powerful role that music plays in restoring the body, soul and memory. All are welcome to join in and find community. The program was designed for those who are living with dementia, Alzheimer's or who are experiencing other neurological conditions. Sessions stimulate remembrance and gently invite reflection through familiar and beloved songs. 

Alzheimer’s Los Angeles: Memories in the Making, led by Anne Oh
Memories in the Making (MiM), is a unique fine arts program for people with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias that offers a creative and non-verbal way of communicating and capturing precious moments through art. 

Invertigo Dance: Dancing Through Parkinson’s – Dance for Everybody, led by Rachel Whiting
Dancing Through Parkinson’s (DTP) is a program designed specifically to aid people with Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions through a unique sequencing of different forms of dance and movement. Building hope, community, and wellbeing through the joy of dance, DTP is Invertigo’s longest-standing community engagement program. 

ARTS AND WELLBEING PANEL
In this panel discussion, the conversation about arts and the power to heal was broadened to include arts leaders and health practitioners addressing community-wide solutions that utilize the arts to create conditions and environments that promote health and wellbeing.

Moderator: 
Tehvon Fowler-Chapman – Former Vice President, LA Opera Connects
Panelists: 
Dr. Assal Habibi – Associate Research Professor of Psychology, USC Brain and Creativity Institute
Rachel Whiting – Lead Teaching Artist, Invertigo Dance Theatre’s Dancing Through Parkinson’s
Stacie Aamon Yeldell MA, MT-BC, AVPT – Author, Speaker, and Music Psychotherapist

ENDING KEYNOTE
Christopher Bailey – Arts and Health Lead, World Health Organization
Christopher Bailey described the neurology of awe and its uses in post-traumatic recovery, and through storytelling recreated the neurological healing experience of awe with the audience.

CLOSING REMARKS
Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson – Chair, National Endowment for the Arts
Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson discussed the NEA’s integration of the arts into strategies that promote health, wellness, and the resiliency of American communities – especially those that have been historically marginalized.

CLOSING CONVERSATION
Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture Director Kristin Sakoda engaged in conversation with nationally renowned arts leaders Renée Fleming and Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson about the aim of policy, practice and programs on arts at the intersection of health.

Moderator:
Kristin Sakoda – Director, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
Panelists: 
Renée Fleming – Advisor for Special Projects, LA Opera
Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson – Chair, National Endowment for the Arts