What We Do
Path with Art empowers people to make art. When making art, people re-make themselves.
Since 2008, Path with Art has made engaging with the arts accessible to individuals and groups facing systemic challenges. As we have grown, so has our vision—and our desire to shape the systems that create health and well-being. Path with Art now stands at the forefront of a growing international movement that channels the power of art to bring dignity, awareness, and healing to the complex issues surrounding trauma recovery.
“Scientific studies increasingly confirm what human beings across cultures and throughout time have long recognized: we are wired for art."
"The arts in all of their modalities can improve our physical and mental health, amplify our ability to prevent, manage, or recover from disease challenges, enhance brain development in children, [and] build more equitable communities.”
— Neuroarts Blueprint
Our Pathway
Path with Art operates at three interconnected levels, cultivating health and well-being by linking individuals, communities, and society through the arts.
Practice
Path with Art creates spaces for thousands of systems-impacted individuals to engage with the transformative power of art. Through a wide variety of creative disciplines offered by our diverse programming, Participant Artists find support and build resilience within a safe, welcoming community. The outcomes are powerful. According to a recent study with Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab, 80.6% of participants experienced reduced loneliness. 92% of participants self-report positive outcomes on their mental and physical health. 89% developed their skills and witnessed creative growth.
Every quarter, Path with Art offers over a dozen 8-week classes and a number of workshops providing hands-on, collaborative skill-building. Taught by a rotating roster of over 50 professional Teaching Artists, these classes cultivate creativity and community both in-person and online.
Training
In a time of high demand for mental and physical health resources, our society needs accessible, trustworthy solutions. With nearly two decades of firsthand experience, Path with Art offers a better way forward.
Rooted in our core practice, artREMEDY is an evidence-based training series designed to equip both arts and health professionals with trauma-informed arts engagement strategies. artREMEDY addresses coinciding problems: few arts organizations incorporate trauma-informed practices, and few health and social service organizations integrate the arts into recovery plans. Through tailored training for educators, healthcare providers, and arts institutions, artREMEDY shares practical strategies for fostering resilience, connection, and healing through the arts.
Advocacy
Path with Art’s vision culminates in a world in which the power of art is available for all. In which public perception and policy integrate the arts into our healthcare. To make this a reality, we are cultivating a community of scientists, researchers, artists, and advocates.
As leaders of the Community Neuroarts Coalition for the Pacific Northwest region, Path with Art partners with research trailblazers in health, medicine, and science to examine the effects of art on physical and mental health. These partners include Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab) Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics and the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program.
Path with Art is also advocating to bring arts prescribing to Washington state. Together with ArtsWA and regional funders, we are leading the charge toward enabling healthcare providers to refer patients to arts and cultural experiences in support of mental and physical health.