Page 9 - ArtforHealth
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The researchers found that students who through art, music, and storytelling. 07
took part in a local arts education initiative The NEA Research Lab at Vanderbilt University
had fewer disciplinary problems than stu- Medical Center recently developed a “Home
dents who did not participate. They also Music Toolkit”—a research-based music curri-
reported better scores in writing and in culum that includes a video playlist of song Jul–Sep 2020 | https://icaf.org/
“compassion for others,” as measured by activities and suggested strategies for parents
assessment tools. and children to interact with music at home.
• A National Endowment for the Arts study, The Lab is currently studying the social and
emotional benefits of a music therapy program
using several large databases at the U.S.
for children with and without autism spectrum
Department of Education, revealed arts
disorder. (See pages 31 and 32)
participation in elementary and high school
Music therapy and other “creative arts
as positively linked with social and civic
therapies” have been widely adopted in a host
engagement behaviors, such as voting
of care settings, often involving children and
and volunteering.
youth. New research into music programs and
Early data from the ABCD study
therapies—including treatments for children
showed that 60 percent of children
and youth—is being funded by the National In-
(ages 9 and 10) have participated in stitutes of Health and the Arts Endowment. This
at least one of the following art forms research builds on an initiative called “Sound
at some point in their lives: music, Health,” a partnership with the John F. Kennedy
dance, visual arts, drama, and crafts. Center for the Performing Arts to promote the
Fifty-one percent of all children had partici- science of music for health and well-being. An
pated in one of these art forms as recently Arts Endowment Research Lab at Drexel Uni-
as the last year. The Arts Endowment remains versity, meanwhile, is studying the effects of
interested in learning about and supporting the art therapy in pediatric cancer care settings.
whole range of arts activities and art forms Throughout times of crisis, or in circumstances
that occupy children and teenagers these are more favorable, the arts offer relief, joy, and
days—from attending arts events and creating purpose to children everywhere. Science is
art or music, to taking arts classes or engag- just beginning to reveal how, why, and to what
ing with the arts through technology. More extent this is so.
than three-fourths of the agency’s arts educa-
tion projects (pre-K through 12th grade) serve
Mary Anne Carter
kids from underprivileged backgrounds.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown Chairman of the
National Endowment for the Arts
many of us how in a time of protract-
ed social isolation, anxiety, and uncer-
tainty, people often can make the
deepest connections with each other
