Health for Life, a new program created by the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT) at the VA, is changing the way they talk about healthcare to include the arts in healing as a valued asset to whole health care and well-being for our Veterans.

Two weeks after the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, artists nationwide are using their craft to address the killings, honor the victims, and call for systematic change. Art forms ranging from murals, paintings, and spoken word to public installations and dance performances are helping Charleston— and the rest of America—unite in the wake of the June 17^th massacre. 

At their recent Legislative Meeting on February 22 in Washington, DC, the National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Arts and Cultural Commission held a panel on arts and the military, which focused on how the arts can assist with the physical and physiological healing of our nation’s veterans. Jay Dick, Americans for the Arts Liaison to NACo, moderated the panel that consisted of Americans for the Arts Senior Director of Arts Policy Marete Wester and Director of the Veterans Writing Project Ron Capps.

America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP) is a national nonprofit that both funds and mentors community groups to serve veterans and their families. The annual 2015 Warrior Community Integration Symposium will be held in Augusta, Georgia on May 21 - 22. The theme this year is “Modeling a Better Future” and will feature representatives from several successful community agencies across the country, as well as panelists and speakers from the Veterans Administration, Wounded Warrior Project, and other organizations.

Today, April 29, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra hosted a “free concert in support of our community” at noon outside its home at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, a short drive from some of the city’s worst looting.

They posted photos and videos to social media throughuot the concert using #BSOpeace, and ended their performance with a quote from Leonard Bernstein: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

Americans for the Arts has announced the New Community Visions Initiative, part of the large-scale Transforming America’s Communities Through the Arts, a $10.5 million suite of programs set to generate national dialogue and engage key stakeholders over the next three years. The New Community Visions Initiative will explore the future of local arts in America and the role of community-based arts that enable organizations, funders, cultural institutions, and artists to shape healthier communities over time. 

Station North, one of three Baltimore Arts and Entertainment Districts, has been working to assist the community after last week's protests. Located in the heart of Baltimore and spanning the neighborhoods of Charles North, Greenmount West, and Barclay, Station North is a diverse collection of artist live-work spaces, galleries, rowhomes, and businesses.

Rick Allen, musician and visual artist, is scheduled to meet with wounded warriors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on March 20, prior to March 21st appearances at the Bethesda and McLean Wentworth Galleries for the local debut of his latest collection, "Rick Allen: Angels and Icons."

President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, Robert L. Lynch, as well as Vice President of Local Arts Advancement, Clayton Lord, participated in the third annual SphinxCon on January 30 in Detroit, Michigan as part of Americans for the Arts ongoing work in the field of arts and diversity.

Today, the Obama Administration released its FY 2016 budget request to Congress, which includes a proposed $2 million funding increase for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The request also includes substantial tax reform proposals, which could impact charitable giving.

On behalf of our veteran community, Got Your Six united notables from film, military, medical, political, and television communities in an event held at the National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium in DC on January 30.

Local competitions began on January 1, 2015, that will lead to the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in October.  Nationwide, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities use the creative arts as one form of rehabilitative treatment to help Veterans recover from and cope with physical and emotional disabilities. Across the country each year, Veterans enrolled at VA health care facilities compete in local creative arts competition.

In support of those who serve wounded veterans, ArtStream, a community based arts organization in Silver Spring, MD, is proud to offer “You Are a Work of Art” (YAWA). This project, sponsored by Prince Charitable Trusts, is designed for nurses, medics, and technicians on the 4th Floor Wounded Warrior Unit at Walter Reed National Medical Military Center (WRNMMC) to practice stress-management and self-care while building friendships through the arts.

Since the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) began the “Call for the Arts” in 2002, thousands of military children – from all over the world, from every branch of service, in grades PreK-12 – have submitted their drawings, their poems, and their interpretations of what it means to be a military child. The MCEC takes advantage of every opportunity to display the artistic skill of these unique, resilient children.

At the Council on Foundations 2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations in Cleveland this October, Robert Lynch was joined by Edgar Smith, a BCA Executive Board member and CEO of World Pac Paper; Jennifer Dowley, President of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; and Carla Dirlikov, an opera singer and a member of the Americans for the Art