The Arts & Health Project

Launched in 2022 and largely in response to the impact of the COVID pandemic on the Tisch community, the Arts & Health Project is a central networking hub designed to support and nurture the practice and scholarship of Tisch community members making work at the intersection of the arts and health, well-being and care.

Over the past three years, the A&H Project has convened a number of school-wide gatherings to explore creative and scholarly work in arts and health through presentations and workshops led by faculty, students and alumni from multiple departments, including Undergraduate Drama, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing, Graduate Film, Art & Public Policy, Photography and Imaging, Dance, Dramatic Writing, ITP, IMA and Collaborative Arts.

As the A&H Project continues to build its hub of support for Tisch artists and arts scholars, the Project has homed in on the role of the arts in promoting and nurturing community health and civic engagement and action as forms of individual and community-level health and well-being. 

The Arts & Health Project invites you to join us as we continue to explore – and promote – the connections between the arts and well-being in our Tisch community, our local communities and beyond.

Arts & Health Project Team

Mary Bitel, Ph.D., LCSW, Associate Arts Professor, Tisch
LaRaisha Dionne, MFA-Wayne State University, Drama ‘08
Schuylar Johns, Drama ‘22
Yarin Neuhaus, Drama ‘22
Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, NYU-AD Theater ‘14
Mia Cusianovic, Drama ‘24
Jack Opel, BS, MA Steinhardt, Teacher PS3 – Advisor and Community Partner

With support from:

Institute of Performing Arts, Tisch
Tisch Creative Research
The Dean’s Faculty Research Grant Program

Past Participants/Presenters

Sheril Antonio, Undergraduate Film & Television ’81; Cinema Studies ’99; Associate Arts Professor, Art & Public Policy 
Gail Bennett, Graduate Film ‘84
Juan Pablo Caicedo, Arts Politics-Art & Public Policy ‘23
Evelyn Coates, Department of Photography and Imaging ‘24
Elizabeth Coker, Associate Arts Professor, Department of Dance
LaRaisha Dionne, MFA-Wayne State University ’23, Drama '08
Kate Ferber, Drama ‘07
Pato Hebert, Associate Arts Professor, Art & Public Policy
Jessica Hecht, Department of Drama ’87; Adjunct Faculty, Experimental Theatre Wing
Mycah Hogan, Drama ‘06
Yidan Hu, ITP ‘25
Seyeon Jeong, Department of Photography and Imaging ‘25
Shindy Johnson, Faculty ITP
Lily Lipman, Drama ‘18
Andy Teirstein, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program ’83; Arts Professor, Department of Dance
John Henry Thompson, Faculty ITP
Patrick Thompson, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing ‘18
William Tunnicliffe, Graduate Film ’84, Associate Arts Professor, Collaborative Arts
Joyce Yayuan Zheng, ITP ’25
Marianne Petit, Arts Professor, ITP/IMA
Rosemary Quinn, Arts Professor, Department of Undergraduate Drama; Director, Experimental Theatre Wing
Nisha Sajnani, Associate Professor and Director, Drama Therapy Program, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; Co-Director Jameel Arts & Health Lab
Mauricio Salgado, Assistant Arts Professor, Department of Undergraduate Drama
Neeti Sivakumar, ITP ’24
Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, NYUAD-Theater ‘14
Lily Peixuan Yu, ITP ‘24
Mashiyat Zaman, ITP ’24
Tom Xia, ITP ’24