The arts are increasingly recognized for their role in disaster readiness, response, and recovery. Beyond economic recovery and tourism, arts and cultural programming can support social and emotional wellbeing by bringing people together and offering ways to express experiences that are difficult to put into words. They can also create space to share stories, honor loss, and reconnect with cultural identity and community strengths. In recent years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has expanded its disaster work through community-based projects, cross-sector partnerships, and the development of a practical toolkit. Created with Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, the toolkit draws on over a decade of trauma-informed work with military-connected populations and the experience of community leaders across the field.
This roundtable discussion will introduce core concepts from the toolkit, including the role of the arts across different phases of disaster, principles for offering arts experiences that support connection and wellbeing, and approaches to building partnerships across sectors. From there, the session will center on shared discussion and exchange. Participants will explore how these tools can be adapted across different contexts and how the purpose and structure of arts engagement may shift over time in response to community needs. The conversation will also address how to communicate the value of this work to partners outside the arts sector and how to position arts and cultural efforts within broader community systems. Participants will share experiences, challenges, and questions related to working across sectors, supporting communities in non-clinical ways, and aligning arts-based efforts with existing services and resources. Examples from multiple communities, including rural and disaster-affected regions, will be used to ground the discussion and highlight different approaches in practice.
Together, participants will reflect on how arts and cultural work can support connection, cultural continuity, and community wellbeing, and consider how these ideas may apply within their own communities.
