The theory behind our practice is rooted in experience in the field, as well as some guiding principles and broader frameworks that inform our practices in a general way. We integrate perspectives from public health, artists, academia, and racial equity principles.
The following resources and perspectives inform the work we do.
The Full Frame Initiative's “Five Domains of Wellbeing” are the universal, interdependent and non-hierarchical essential needs we all have. Addressing whole-health requires supporting people in meeting their needs in, and therefore making progress in, all five domains:
Social determinants (drivers) of health (SDOH) are conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes. Grouped into 5 key areas, we recognize the ability of arts and culture to positively shape conditions in each
The arts have been shown to influence six broad areas of individual- and population-level health. This framework highlights each of these areas, and identifies outcomes that can be enhanced through arts and cultural approaches, and the mechanisms that mediate or moderate these outcomes.
The interdisciplinary field of neuroarts stands at the crossroads of science, technology, and the arts. This emergent field studies how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the body, brain, and behavior and how this knowledge is translated into specific practices that advance health and wellbeing. Using increasingly sophisticated technological tools to learn more, scientific studies demonstrate that many art modalities act on complex biological systems and mechanisms to generate physiological and psychological effects.
Launched in 2019, the “NeuroArts Blueprint: Advancing the Science of Arts, Health and Wellbeing” is an initiative designed to strengthen, standardize, and propel the emerging field of neuroarts. The Blueprint initiative is a partnership between the Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics and the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program, the initiative engages leaders across a wide range of disciplines, as well as people with lived experience.
The ability to experience the arts and aesthetic experiences is among the defining characteristics of being human. We take in the world through our senses; smell, sound, taste, touch, and vision are powerful pathways into the brain. Through electrical and biochemical processes, these stimuli provoke a complex cascade of reactions that affect multiple biological systems and alter our brains and bodies. In short, we are wired for art. (NeuroArts Blueprint)
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. The five SEL core competencies are