New Jersey Performing Arts Center • Rutgers School of Public Health • Mason Gross School of the Arts
The Arts in Health Research Lab, a collaboration between Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, the School of Public Health, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, harnesses the transformative power of creativity to improve health outcomes through research, education, and community engagement. The lab conducts research and nurtures pedagogy and programming that explores the ways in which the arts contribute to measurable improvements in physical, social, and mental well-being.
Learn more about the Lab here.
Facts & Figures
Explore the statistics behind the new and growing field of arts in health research. These numbers, from “10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2025” by Americans for the Arts, illuminate how creative engagement translates into improvements in physical, social, and mental well-being.
72%
of Americans believe “The arts provide shared experiences with people of different races, ethnicities, ages, beliefs, and identities.”
69%
of Americans believe the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.”
45 minutes
of art making can lower the stress hormone cortisol by 25%
72%
of business leaders report that creativity is of “high importance” when hiring, as noted in the Conference Board’s Ready to Innovate report.
75%
of Americans say if their doctor wrote them a prescription to participate in the arts as a way to improve their health, they would likely follow that recommendation.
Meet the Lab
Get to know the team driving our partnership between Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts, School of Public Health, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Together, they combine artistic vision, scientific rigor, and community engagement to advance well-being across New Jersey.
School of Public Health
Dr. Kristen Krause (she/her)
Assistant Professor at Rutgers University Department of Urban-Global Public Health and Deputy Director for the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Jacqueline Thaw (she/her)
Associate Professor of Art & Design at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Dr. Stephanie Cronenberg (she/her)
Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of Research, and Associate Professor of Music at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Aly Maier Lokuta (she/her)
Assistant Vice President of Arts and Well-Being at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Dr. Peichi Waite (she/her)
Manager of the Lab and leads Scarlet Arts Rx at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Dr. Taylor Masamitsu (they/he)
Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University Department of Urban Education
School of Public Health
Katherine Zapert (she/her)
Assistant Dean for Research at Rutgers University School of Public Health
Meet the Lab
Get to know the team driving our partnership between Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts, School of Public Health, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Together, they combine artistic vision, scientific rigor, and community engagement to advance well-being across New Jersey.
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Dr. Stephanie Cronenberg (she/her)
Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of Research, and Associate Professor of Music at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
School of Public Health
Dr. Kristen Krause (she/her)
Assistant Professor at Rutgers University Department of Urban-Global Public Health and Deputy Director for the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Aly Maier Lokuta (she/her)
Assistant Vice President of Arts and Well-Being at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Dr. Taylor Masamitsu (they/he)
Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University Department of Urban Education
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Jacqueline Thaw (she/her)
Associate Professor of Art & Design at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Dr. Peichi Waite (she/her)
Manager of the Lab and leads Scarlet Arts Rx at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
School of Public Health
Katherine Zapert (she/her)
Assistant Dean for Research at Rutgers University School of Public Health
Community-Engaged Projects
This is a curated selection of our interdisciplinary initiatives, spanning community-engaged programs, innovative methodologies, and outcome evaluations. Each project contributes to a deeper understanding of arts-driven approaches to health and inspires future collaborations.
Notice Nature
This is an art-science collaboration focusing on student wellness. It involves nature journaling as a habit to support emotional health, reduce loneliness, and enhance connections with the natural world.
Collaborators: Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, School of Psychology, Rutgers Libraries, Rebecca Cypess, Dee Magnoni, Mary Nucci, Lena Struwe, Margaret Swarbrick, Jacqueline Thaw, and Peichi Waite
Grant: $50,000 Chancellor-Provost Challenge: Toward the Common Good Grant
Status: Ongoing | Deliverable: Report
New Jersey Arts in Well-being Indicator Study
This study examines New Jersey Residents’ perspectives of the arts and their individual and community well-being.
Collaborators: Stephanie Cronenberg, Rebecca Cypess, Kristen Krause, Aly Maier Lokuta, Jacqueline Thaw, and Peichi Waite
Status: Completed | Deliverable: Summary of Findings
Photovoice
This initiative addresses HIV-related stigma through photography workshops.
Collaborators: Ashley Grosso, Jacqueline Thaw and NJPAC Arts & Well-Being
Status: Ongoing | Deliverable: Exhibitions
Enroll in Introduction to Arts in Health
Introduction to Arts in Health, is a three-credit interdisciplinary course that examines how creative practice can shape a culture of health and well-being. Through historical and contemporary case studies, policy analysis, and hands-on projects, you’ll explore the ethical, social, and artistic dimensions of arts-driven health initiatives.
07:557:131 Introduction to Arts in Health
Introduction to Arts in Health
Course Number: 07:557:131
Course Format: Lecture
Mode of Instruction: Online Asynchronous
Introduction to Arts in Health is a three-credit, interdisciplinary course that explores the emerging, experimental field of Arts in Health. While there are many directions and priorities across the field, the National Organization for Arts in Health (known colloquially as NOAH) shares a definition that emphasizes the expansive field’s focused “dedication to using the power of the arts to enhance health and well-being in diverse institutional and community contexts.” Throughout the semester, students will study the historical and contemporary roles that art and creative work have played in fostering a culture of health and well-being, explore how arts and cultural policy can be reconceived as health policy, and create art and cultural work that may contribute to good health. At the same time, we’ll practice holding questions, dilemmas, tensions and disturbances present across our cultural industries that exacerbate harms to public health.
3 credits
Course Prerequisites and Corequisites: None
Learning Goals of Course
Upon completion of this course, students will possess the knowledge and skills to:
- Recognize notable contributions of art and cultural work that enact values of health and well-being which are found formally in the arts in health field, as well as past and present iterations of mainstream art and community contexts.
- Apply principles and theories of health promotion ethics related to creative action.
- Define what has been described as Culture of Health Action Framework 1 as well as their personal definition of what good health means to them as culture-making citizens.
- Identify facilitators and barriers to developing an artistic and creative practice that embodies their personal definition of good health in relation to society.
- Demonstrate the ability to conceptualize arts in health across multi-level interventions by narrating the socio-political contexts for arts in health equity and accessibility.
- Embody awareness and practice of art and creativity for health as cultural work.
Instructor: Shanaé R. Burch
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