How can we build healthier communities, as people, as artists, as friends, as a country?
On July 27, 2024, hundreds of artists in 18 cities across America worked together to find out.
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At a moment when Americans faced acute challenges to their individual and collective wellbeing, the audacious campaign from One Nation/One Project titled Arts For EveryBody sought to prove how the arts can lead to healthier people and healthier communities. Inspired by the 1936 Federal Theatre Project, where 18 cities and towns presented their own interpretations of the anti-fascist play “It Can't Happen Here,” Arts For EveryBody brought together people and communities across the country to share art reflective of their own communities on the same day.
On July 27, 2024, artists, civic leaders, and community health providers in 18 cities and towns across America simultaneously premiered an array of large-scale participatory art projects which drew on the sounds, styles, and stories of their communities to answer the prompt “No place like home.”
In big cities and rural counties, hundreds of actors, muralists, poets, folk dancers, circus clowns, farmers, flower artists, skaters, cooks, architects, DJs, puppeteers, nurses, mariachi players, bamboo weavers and more created new works that showed the world where they come from. The result was a celebration of American pluralism–of unity through diversity. From Seattle to Gainesville, from Providence to Honolulu, it was an outpouring of local joy.
Read the full press release here.
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Arts For EveryBody aimed to do more than entertain, inspire, and galvanize: it marked a breakthrough moment in the relationship between the arts and health in America.
Arts for EveryBody commissioned a series of research studies led by Dr. Jill Sonke, Ph.D., at the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine to examine the connection between arts participation and the health of a community. The first of four studies in the series examined and defined “arts participation,” which was recently published in Health Promotion Practice Journal.
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Older adults who participate in the arts report a 48% lower risk of depression and a 44% reduction in dementia; the health benefits of arts participation are equivalent to the benefits of weekly exercise.
Participating in the arts reduces stress and loneliness, which are risk factors for a wide range of ailments, including hypertension and heart disease. There are also social benefits - young adults are more likely to stay in school and 4 out of 5 young adults who had arts-rich experiences are more likely to vote.
Learn more about the mental and physical benefits of arts participation here.
Watch the Trailer for July 27th
Listen to Our Song Anthem
Watch a Recap of the Event
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About "You Are Home / You Are Loved"
John Forté was commissioned to lead the development of a song in support of the Arts for Everybody national arts and health campaign. The song was designed to incorporate several artist participants from across various sites and includes contributions from Edinburg (TX), Kansas City (MO), Chicago (IL), and Phillips County (AR). The song title "You Are Home / You Are Loved" references the theme driving many of the site's artistic projects premiering on July 27, 2024 – "No Place Like Home." Its featured artists include John Forté, Binta, Making Movies, Olivia Mills, and the Living Waters Gospel Choir. You are invited to clap your hands and sing along!"You Are Home / You Are Loved"
John Forté (feat. Binta, Making Movies, Living Waters Gospel Choir, Olivia Mills)Composed By:
John Forté
Binta Diallo
Daniel Kulasik
Enrique ChiWritten By:
John FortéProduced By:
John FortéCo-Produced By:
Clyde Valentin
Brian SatzPerformers:
John Forté - Vocals, Guitar
Binta Diallo - Vocals
Olivia Mills - Vocals
Duncan Burnett - Percussion
Enrique Chi - Vocals, Guitar (ENRIQUE CHI ASCAP - #549986380)
Jesus Villegas - Trumpet
Brenda Hughes - Vocals
MaryAnn Hughes Goldsberry - Vocals
Lita Moore-Johnson - Vocals
Maple Edwards - Vocals
JT White - VocalsAvailable on all the major platforms and available for download
Watch Our Celebrity PSA
Debbie Allen
Jerry Trainor
Leo González
Jay Ellis
Sarah Gilman
Ayesha Perry-Iqbal
Yaya daCosta
Jillian Mercado
Emily Tosta
Craig Robinson
Quinn XCII
Guillermo Diaz
Nikkolas Smith
Jon Huertas
Aloe Blacc
Julissa Calderon
Maiara Walsh
Angell Conwell
Akilah Hughes
Sara Seyed
Andre Royo
Eddie James Olmos
Lauren Siyowin
Samuel L. Jackson
Debbie Allen Jerry Trainor Leo González Jay Ellis Sarah Gilman Ayesha Perry-Iqbal Yaya daCosta Jillian Mercado Emily Tosta Craig Robinson Quinn XCII Guillermo Diaz Nikkolas Smith Jon Huertas Aloe Blacc Julissa Calderon Maiara Walsh Angell Conwell Akilah Hughes Sara Seyed Andre Royo Eddie James Olmos Lauren Siyowin Samuel L. Jackson
Sites were led by local artists, municipal officials and community health leaders, who worked together to create large-scale participatory arts projects that advanced health, equity, and community connection.
Download a PDF of all 18 site descriptions here.
Learn about additional #ArtsForEveryBody events that took place on July 27th.
Our Leadership
Arts for EveryBody was led by some of our country’s most creative thinkers. Together, they worked to coordinate a movement guided by healing, equity and community.
Our National Team
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Tyler Thomas
Associate Artistic Director
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Michael Rohd
Civic Collaborations Director
This research brief summarizes a study examining how arts participation can build social cohesion and enhance well-being in communities, presenting key findings from an integrative literature review and introducing a conceptual model that illustrates the relationships between arts participation, social cohesion, and well-being.