Campus Colors & Connection
An effective, engaging approach to creating connection on college campuses
1 out of every 3 students on campuses say that they’re LONELY….You can do something about it.
To address the growing epidemic of loneliness and social isolation on college campuses across the country, the Foundation for Art & Healing (FAH), through our Campus UnLonely project, offers a free program to harness the power of creative expression to engage, inspire, empower, and connect a diverse array of students and other communities within the campus environment.
Make your campus UnLonely with Colors & Connection!
Colors & Connection is a free, one-hour workshop that brings people together with “connecting through colors” activities. We provide you with thought-provoking exercises that stimulate rich conversations and authentic engagement.
Colors & Connection combines the power of artmaking and conversation to bring people together through authentic engagement and interaction.
Program participants have a chance to explore and grow their creative intelligence as they discover how color can express and reflect moods and emotions. Colors & Connection helps nurture peer-to-peer communication which is increasingly viewed by Campus Life experts as essential for students navigating the complexities of the college experience.
College administrators, faculty, students – really anyone who wants to be part of the solution to the loneliness epidemic – can implement Colors & Connection. Using an online platform to enable wide-scale program distribution and uptake, Colors & Connection is readily accessible and easy to deliver.
“At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, we’ve seen how essential a sense of connection and belonging is as students navigate their educational and life journeys. The Colors & Connection workshop was a great, joyful experience for our students, offering a fun, creative arts-filled way to share thoughts and feelings, have real conversations, and get to know themselves and each other better.”
Joe Behen, PhD, Dean of the Wellness Center, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Anyone can be a facilitator!
Sign-up to facilitate a Colors & Connection workshop… it’s free!
- Register to be a facilitator by clicking the link below (no experience or special skills needed).
- Get your materials from our Colors & Connection web portal.
- Complete guides and “curriculum” are provided. It’s super user-friendly!
- Plan a date and location.
- Publicize your workshop and invite people to participate.
- Go for it! Enjoy facilitating an engaging workshop.
“A beautiful way to remind students about the power of the arts when it comes to emotional expression, especially when right-brain training is often less prioritized in education.“
– Peer facilitator
“I liked getting to make art that represented parts of myself. I feel like color and abstract drawings help me to express things I cannot express in words.“
– Student participant
Join our upcoming training & support opportunities!
We offer live, virtual training opportunities! Whether you need support planning your first workshop, want more information on how to go deeper, or are just looking to brainstorm and connect with other facilitators—we’re here to help support you.
Campus UnLonely 101: Colors & Connection Training
Tuesday, July 18 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET
Campus UnLonely 101: Colors & Connection Training
Thursday, August 15 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET
Other Upcoming Trainings
We’re in this together
The Foundation for Art & Healing develops innovative programs that ignite the power of creativity, the imagination, and the arts to improve health and well-being in individuals and communities. Our evidence-informed approaches are based upon the science of creativity, and have demonstrated that the arts are transformational in engaging our hearts and our minds, elevating empathy, compassion, and connection to oneself and others.
Creative expression has the power to improve well-being by helping us understand ourselves, shifting perspectives, and reinforcing positive behaviors. Physiologically, making art has dramatic effects on our bodies: reducing blood pressure, bolstering our immune system, improving brain cognition, and fighting inflammation.
Colors & Connection is not intended to replace medical or psychosocial treatment by licensed professionals and is not recommended for those in crisis. Please reach out to the mental health resources on your campus, or go to a local crisis center or emergency room if you are experiencing a mental health emergency. National mental health resources and helplines include:
Resources You Can Count On
