About Us

We are a nonprofit organization that mobilizes partners and the public to embrace the arts as a proven path towards improved personal and public health. Rooted in medicine and science, we develop applications for utilizing creative arts expression as a remedy to national health issues. Through collaborative partnerships and innovative programs, we serve communities by providing arts-based programs and resources that improve wellbeing.

The creative arts offer a powerful lens to better understand ourselves, each other, and the world. Art draws us inward, allowing us a chance to improve personal health through individual reflection, expression, and action. Creativity also acts as a catalyst to promote interpersonal engagement that strengthens community connections and wellbeing. We utilize the arts as a public health tool to improve America’s health and wellbeing.

Our Mission

We champion and engage creative arts expression as a path towards improved health and wellbeing for individuals and communities. We do this by creating awareness of how the arts can address health issues, designing and offering creative expression based solutions, and partnering with organizations to fund, develop, and distribute programs that deliver measurable results.

Our History

Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, founded The Foundation for Art & Healing in 2003 to explore and champion the connection between creative modalities and health and wellbeing. Since its inception, The Foundation for Art & Healing has designed and deployed a number of successful projects in response to traumatic experiences and to address public health concerns including heart disease and the loneliness epidemic.

2003 – The Foundation for Art & Healing is founded to explore the relationship of art and creativity with science and health.
2004–2006 – The Foundation launched exploratory community activities in arts and health.
2007–2009 – The Foundation created various publications, presentations, and programs to support veterans and active duty service members.
2009 – To address heart health and risk factor management, the Foundation participated in Arts & the Heart Roundtable.
2010-2011 – Foundation employees worked with hospital staff and healthcare workers to support organizational health and wellbeing.
2012  – The Foundation developed arts activity resources at Queens College shelters and provided art therapists with supplies following Hurricane Sandy.
2012 –  The Foundation provided creative arts toolkits for parents and children to use as a way to cope and heal from the Sandy Hook killings.
2013 – Following the Boston Marathon bombing, the Foundation developed creative arts toolkits for the Boston-area community to use as a trauma recovery method.
2014 – The Foundation created ‘Breaking the Silence’ care management for patients with diabetes.
2016 – The UnLonely Project is created to address the loneliness epidemic and use film as a vehicle to promote connection.

2020 – The Black Health & the Arts initiative is created to address systemic racism as a public health crisis. The Foundation also launches Stuck at Home Together, keeping people connected during COVID-19 by offering creative expression opportunities online through a dedicated web experience.

2021 – Colors & Connection workshops are rolled out nationally on campuses to support 18-24 year olds, the “loneliest demographic”. The Foundation also launches Front Row, a customized web access to curated selection of UnLonely Films.

2023 – Dr. Jeremy Nobel’s book, Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection, is published through Penguin Random House. 

Our Values

Inspired

We believe art is a gateway to imagination and empowerment.

Compassionate

We believe all people can benefit from embracing creative expression as a way to better understand ourselves and others.

Nimble

To ensure impact, we respond to challenges strategically and effectively.

Trusted

We value scientific rigor and leverage evidence-based findings throughout our work.

Explore More

Project UnLonely

We launched this signature national initiative to raise awareness of loneliness and its negative physical and mental health effects, to destigmatize loneliness, and to make programming available to address loneliness.

Our Programs

Our suite of proven program solutions enable community-based organizations to use creative expression as an innovative and effective public health method for improving their community’s wellbeing.

The Foundation for Art & Healing