August 26, 2025

by Katharine Weiner

The transition to college life brings a lot of mixed emotions. If you’re a rising college student, you may feel some nervousness or anxiety, as well as excitement and anticipation.

Transitions can be challenging! Here are five tips to help ease the transition to college before the start of the school. These activities can help ease your transition before you start school. Let’s dive in.

1. Spend time alone in nature

Maybe a forest, a park, or just under a tree. You don’t need any belongings other than a journal if you would like. This allows for intentional alone time without the distractions of a phone/music/social media. This is an exercise that you can continue once you move on campus. You can also spend time in nature with others!

2. Talk to your loved ones about the transition

If you’ll be going to school away from home, talk to the people close to you about how that might affect all of you. Maintaining long-distance relationships can be a challenge, but having a conversation before you leave for school can help to ease any feelings of loneliness during the year.

3. Start a journal/scrapbook

Journaling provides the space to slow down and reflect on the transition. You can use your journal as a way to remember both the exciting and hard moments, and also as a space where you can be honest with yourself. If you start journaling before you leave for school, you’ll begin a habit that you can continue when many of your other routines are changing. You could also incorporate scrapbooking and collage into the process. If you want to share any of it, that can be a great opportunity to connect with others.

4. Create a “sonic passport”

A sonic passport is a playlist or a presentation showcasing the musical “destinations” that have shaped your life. You may choose to reflect on your familial, cultural, or emotional connection to music. The act of creating the passport helps you reflect on music that has a special meaning to you or that you love in the moment. Music taste is a common topic of conversation when getting to know someone, so this exercise will help prepare you to make new connections on campus. If you want, you can even show your presentation/playlist!

5. Make your space your own

When you get to school, create a comfortable space that feels like yours. If you’ll be living with other people on campus, small details like meaningful photos and familiar bedding can help create a space on campus where you feel at ease. Sometimes a poster can be a conversation starter and a way to begin a new relationship.

We hope these tips help to inspire curiosity, confidence, and connection in the weeks ahead!

Written by Katharine Weiner, collaborator with The Foundation for Art & Healing. Katharine is a rising first year student at Harvard who worked with FAH on a research project during her senior year of high school.

April 7, 2025

Introducing the CreativityHub: A Tool to Foster Connection in Challenging Times

In today’s climate of uncertainty and anxiety, the need for stronger emotional well-being and deeper connections is more important than ever.

While access to robust and affordable mental health resources remains of critical importance, there is also a need for simple, convenient tools that allow as many people as possible to feel better connected to themselves and their communities, increasing their resilience and optimism.

The Opportunity: The CreativityHub

To meet this need, The Foundation for Art & Healing recently launched the CreativityHub, an online resource to engage, inspire, and connect individuals through creative expression and equip them with the resources required to face these challenging times.

Some may not think of themselves as creative enough to share their work with others. The CreativityHub eliminates those barriers by providing a suite of simple creative activities that encourage self-expression, social interaction, and reflection. That allows people from all backgrounds to develop a stronger sense of connection to themselves and the means and motivation for connecting to others.

The CreativityHub includes a Connection Poll to help users check in with their emotions and an assortment of twelve creative prompts for solo and group activities. From writing a six-word poem to using colors to recall joyful memories to hosting a collaborative painting party, these activities are designed to spark joy and deepen connections.

While beneficial to all, the CreativityHub is especially impactful for older adults, young adults, employees in high-stress environments, and all those facing marginalizing circumstances such as chronic illness, social isolation, or modernity itself.

Why the Arts?

Arts-based programs are increasingly recognized as effective modalities to help people engage and connect. Research has confirmed that individuals who pursue creativity and self-expression through the arts see improvements in their emotional health, social connectedness, and overall well-being.

That shouldn’t surprise us. Creative expression allows the unconscious to become conscious, increasing our self-awareness and deepening our knowledge of who we are and what matters to us. And when we share our creative works with others, we build meaningful social connections by allowing aspects of who we are to be safely revealed. The arts also help us make sense of the world, allowing us to better navigate daily challenges, forge better connections with others, and—critically—enjoy the vitality of a positive perspective on the social world around us.

The CreativityHub was developed by the Foundation for Art & Healing, which has more than 20 years of experience partnering with expressive arts experts, psychologists and others to build and deliver research-based creative art programs and interventions that are currently being used by hundreds of community-based organizations. This new toolkit captures and integrates that knowledge and expertise into activations specifically designed for direct use by the public, either individually or in small groups.

Why Act Now?

Today, nearly half of all Americans report feeling lonely, increasing the risk of mental illness, physical illnesses, and premature death. This represents a significant public health threat – chronic loneliness has the same negative health impacts as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, increasing heart attack and stroke, or death from either, by 30%. It also increases the risk of dementia, diabetes, and cancer. It doesn’t have to be this way.

The CreativityHub is a scalable activity that is free and accessible to anyone with an internet connection. The CreativityHub provides a fun way to engage in artistic self-expression through simple prompts that are easy to complete, with no previous creative experience or skills needed. It gives people a sense of achievement, helps them develop meaningful connections, and improves their ability to deal with stress and adversity.

The multi-faceted challenges of uncertain times can drive people apart, leading to social isolation and loneliness. Through the arts, we can help individuals create and express their way out of loneliness, build deeper social connections, and enhance their mental and physical well-being.

February 28, 2025

Creating and appreciating art engages our social brains!

According to a recent study by neuroscientist Janneke van Leeuwen, PhD, art interpretation stimulates blood flow in the same brain regions involved in social connection.

The exciting implication of this research is that art has a biological function. Beyond entertaining and inspiring us, art can also help us make sense of our social world.

How did van Leeuwen uncover this exciting connection between social processing and art appreciation?

First, she and her research team reviewed the “social brain atlas,” a framework that Daniel Alcalá-López, PhD and his colleagues created from MRI studies of brain networks involved in social engagement.

Then, Van Leeuwen correlated those areas of brain function with the cognitive processes required for creative tasks like assessing the meaning of a work of art. Lastly, she combined those findings into a single brain map.

Her brain map shows close overlap between the parts of the brain involved in social processing and the parts of the brain involved in creative engagement. Specifically, the map illustrates four brain networks involved in both social and creative tasks:

Network 1: Seeing
Network 2: Feeling
Network 3: Interacting
Network 4: Meaning-Making

For example, Network 1 allows us to not only observe a friend’s facial expressions, but also analyze shapes, lines, and colors. Network 4 helps us perform more complex tasks, like reflecting on our relationships and appreciating works of art.

Check out van Leeuwen’s article for a more technical overview of these cognitive processes.

Humans are innately both social and creative, but van Leeuwen’s research is one of the first studies to showcase a clear connection between these two fundamental traits. It introduces the exciting possibility that creative expression is even more important to our humanity and social connections than we may realize. In other words, maybe art is more than just a hobby. Maybe art is an essential tool for navigating our lives as social beings.

Want to dive deeper into the link between arts engagement and social connection? Here are a few next steps we recommend:

• Watch “Embrace Your Signal,” an exciting video about the ways art rewires our brains and opens us up to social connection.
• Browse 125+ short films that address themes of loneliness and connection.
• Explore arts-based programs for colleges and universities, healthcare organizations, workplaces, and community-based organizations.

January 17, 2025

We hope your year is off to a great start! As we ring in the new year, we’ve curated a list of five content recommendations to help you embrace the healing power of creative engagement in 2025 and beyond. Let’s dive in!

1. Your Brain On Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

Format: Book (304 pages)
Summary: Through the lens of “neuroarts,” Your Brain On Art illuminates the many ways aesthetic experiences rewire our brains, improve our health, and enrich our lives. This New York Times Bestseller spotlights a range of examples from the field, including the story of our founder, Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH and his work to improve health and wellbeing through Project UnLonely, an arts-based public health program. Learn more.

Why we love this book: Not only does Your Brain On Art directly reference our work, but it also paints a compelling, evidence-backed picture of why creative experiences matter to our wellbeing, both individually and collectively. Watch our new video “Embrace Your Signal: Loneliness, Art, and the Brain” to learn more about how creative making and conversation rewire our brains and behaviors for the better: https://www.artandhealing.org/announcing-embrace-your-signal-loneliness-art-and-the-brain/

2. “Culture and Heritage Capital: Monetising the Impact of Culture and Heritage on Health and Wellbeing” by Frontier Economics

Format: Research Paper (191 pages)
Summary: This groundbreaking report commissioned by the United Kingdom’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport shows that engaging in creative experiences—from drawing classes to music performances—measurably improves people’s wellbeing and productivity, translating to £8bn in cost savings for the national healthcare system. These benefits span a wide range of populations, including children ages 10-14, young adults ages 18-28, middle-aged adults ages 30-49, and older adults over 50. Read the full report or check out this article from The Guardian summarizing the paper’s findings!

Why we love this research paper: We’re inspired by the depth and breadth of this impactful study. Not only does it highlight the ways arts-based experiences can benefit people of all ages, but it also showcases the wide range of activities that fall under the healing arts umbrella: visiting a museum, seeing a concert, playing an instrument, drawing a picture, tending a garden, or simply “making things.” There are so many ways to integrate the arts into your daily life! In the words of our founder and president Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, “Art is a medicine that requires no prescription.”

3. “The Cure for Loneliness” with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Simon Sinek

Format: Video (50 minutes)
Summary: Can social interaction make us healthier? U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy thinks so. In this inspiring conversation with Simon Sinek, Dr. Murthy shares how connecting with others can transform us for the better. He walks through why simply showing up is one of the best ways to support the people in our lives. He notes that inviting people over for casual hangouts is a great way to overcome loneliness. And he explores the ways relationships, purpose, and service can improve our mental and physical health. Watch the video.

Why we love this video: Loneliness is a helpful signal that we need connection. And we couldn’t agree more with Dr. Murthy’s discussion of the health benefits of interpersonal connection. To dive deeper into strategies for overcoming modern loneliness, check out our founder and president Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH’s book, Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection: https://www.artandhealing.org/book/.

4. “Looking for Friends? Start With Family” by Tom Vanderbilt

Format: Article (5-minute read)
Summary: Family ties can be an untapped source of social connection! In a recent article for The New York Times, writer Tom Vanderbilt shares how his brother-in-law, Rob, became his best friend. An important part of their friendship has been working together on creative projects—from a restaurant business to a D.I.Y. backyard shed. Read Tom’s story.

Why we love this article: We believe in the power of creative projects to bring us closer to ourselves and to one another. Anyone can use arts-based activities to feel more connected to family and friends! Visit our website for some ideas to get you started: https://www.artandhealing.org/be-unlonely/#make-something

5. “Why a ‘Third Life’ Is the Answer to America’s Loneliness Epidemic” by Adam Chandler

Format: Article (5-minute read)
Summary: Want to feel more connected to your community in 2025? Spend time in third spaces! In an article for TIME Magazine, journalist Adam Chandler defines “third spaces” as “informal spots to gather outside of home and work for socializing.” Think: coffee shops, libraries, museums, and places of worship. These casual community spaces have declined in popularity over the years. But Chandler says they’re essential to reducing loneliness and boosting our physical, social, and emotional health! Read the article.

Why we love this article: At FAH, we are firm believers in the healing power of connecting with members of our local communities. Learn how we partner with community-based organizations—including “third spaces” like libraries and community centers—to deliver creative arts programs that support personal and public health: https://www.artandhealing.org/community-programs-2/.

Let’s stay connected!

For more content on the health benefits of creative engagement, visit our blog or follow The Foundation for Art & Healing on Instagram or LinkedIn.