At the Intersection of Arts and Health: One Nation/One Project Reflects on Arts for EveryBody

Leaders of the national arts and health initiative One Nation/One Project (ONOP) reflect on their learnings and share best practices in achieving a monumental moment on 27 July 2024, when eighteen cities and towns across the United States premiered eighteen distinct participatory public art projects–each designed to improve community health and wellbeing. Started in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ONOP led and supported all eighteen projects in developing up to three years of unprecedented collaboration between municipal, artistic, and health sector leaders. These projects represented vastly different economic, social, racial, and geographic experiences–each working together to explore the change possible at the intersection of arts and health. The series starts by charting parallels between theatremaking and movement building and then shares how the arts can be a tool in values-based research, equitable community engagement, and building social cohesion. It goes on to explore the future possibilities of this work and, finally, its implications more broadly in today’s socio-political landscape.