The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine (UFCAM) will present the third Creating Healthy Communities (CHC) convening this fall. The three-day event takes place on Tuesday, October 14, Wednesday, October 15, and Thursday, October 16, 2025, at NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey. This marks the first time the triennial event, a national leader in the field, will be held in the state. To register for the three-day event, visit www.njpac.org.
The Creating Healthy Communities convening attracts hundreds of artists, arts organizations, public health and healthcare professionals, civic leaders, and community organizers. It is a critical event that accelerates connections, strategic thinking, and cross-sector collaboration on building healthy communities through arts and culture.
NJPAC, a national leader in using the arts to transform lives, is proud to host the event. Its Social Impact programming includes the launch of New Jersey’s first arts-on-prescription program in 2023.
“We’re an Arts Center leading by example with innovative programs that spark creativity to improve the well-being of people and neighborhoods across the state,” says Dr. Sherri-Ann Butterfield, Senior Vice President of Social Impact at NJPAC. She added, “We’re proud to host New Jersey’s first Creating Healthy Communities convening and to welcome hundreds of changemakers to our campus for effective collaborations on leveraging the arts to build community wellness.”
The 2025 convening features two distinguished keynote speakers. Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, an urban planning and cultural policy expert and former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, speaks on Tuesday, October 15. On Wednesday, October 16, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, an award-winning spoken word artist and cultural strategist, will deliver the keynote.
“Creating Healthy Communities is more than a convening — it’s a catalytic space where artists, public health professionals, community leaders, policymakers and others come together to imagine and activate new possibilities for health and well-being through the arts,” says Dr. Jill Sonke, Director of Research Initiatives at UFCAM.
The agenda for the 2025 CHC convening includes:
• Presentations on the economic impact of arts in health.
• Learning about arts participation as a health behavior.
• Positioning arts and culture as a social determinant of health.
• Best practices for arts prescribing.
• Breakout sessions and networking opportunities.
• Engagement in creative activities in Greater Newark.
• A special performance of a Well-being Concert produced by Carnegie Hall.
