ACA Arts & Wellness
ACA offers professional development that shares its method for successfully delivering Arts & Wellness experiences which connect the arts to community health.
We offer two options:
- In-Person Academy – 3 days with ACA artist ambassadors, community networking, experiential workshops, consultation, and access to all online content. Save the date for our next in-person Academy: September 11-13, 2025, including overnight accommodation and gourmet meals in a retreat setting!
- Virtual Academy – available at https://arts-wellness-academy.teachable.com/
Participants will learn:
- The ACA Five Phases of an Arts & Wellness Experience (guiding method for facilitating creative group connection).
- How to design programs for diverse audiences and facilitate arts experiences in wellness.
- How facilitators can enhance listening skills to create a restorative setting.
- Ways to offer creative tools for resilience.
- Approaches to reframe challenges as opportunities.
- The cyclical process of integrating research and mentorship into programs for your community.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE
In 2012, Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) established its cutting-edge Arts & Wellness initiative that reaches out to all generations by connecting community health to the arts. With generous support from foundations and donors, ACA is at the forefront of producing innovative resources in the field of arts and health. With initial support from the National Center for Creative Aging, ACA has expanded its Arts & Wellness initiative to serve the needs of the Central Florida community. These programs improve mental and physical health, offer creative solutions to overcome age and disability discrimination, prevent loneliness and isolation, and support healthy living from a holistic perspective. ACA works with a dedicated team of community artists, music therapists, art therapists, and volunteers to establish ongoing dynamic programs to increase the health and wellness of elders, caregivers, veterans, active adults, youth, and artists. These Arts & Wellness ambassadors advocate for accessibility and inclusion by supporting people of every generation to explore their “inner artists” and learn from one another.
ACA Arts & Wellness programs include:
- Veteran and elder-care outreach programs that incorporate poetry, painting, music, and movement to encourage mental stimulation, socialization, and manage chronic pain.
- Creative resources that assist caregivers and care partners in facing specific challenges as they navigate this phase of life.
- Youth outreach programs that relieve stress, build self-esteem and strengthen social relationships in lower-income communities, youth in foster homes, and wider populations of at-risk youth in Volusia County.
- Public workshops and retreats, including intuitive painting, expressive journaling, movement and dance, puppetry, music for the mind, and creative writing.
- ACA Arts & Wellness Academy customized seminar for healthcare professionals, teaching artists, community program coordinators and educational institutions.
- Internship opportunities for medical, arts, science, and psychology students.
Learn more about our artists at https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/community/aca-community-artist/
Please contact us to find out more about joining a program, or custom opportunities for your organization. community@atlanticcenterforthearts.org | (386) 427-6975 x30
Thank You to our Arts & Wellness Sponsors !
