Business, Entrepreneurship and Career Planning

Center for Arts in Medicine

Our work is separated in 3 segments to reflect the field of Arts in Health; Arts in Healthcare, Arts in Community and Arts in Public Health. Our professional spaces are in teaching, research and engagement. We teach our students (matriculated, professional development, community) the same in the realm of BECP.

SPARC: Space for People, Arts, Research, and Creative Collaboration and Community

SPARC352 is a place-based initiative grounded in the idea that arts are at the core of vibrant and healthy communities. In partnership with community members, SPARC352 aims to develop self-sustaining community centers for learning, wellness, workforce development, and historic and cultural preservation through creativity and collaboration. Each center will be a Space for People, Arts, Research, and Creative Collaboration and Community (that is, SPARC352).

The first SPARC352 project proposes development of Old Fire Station #1 in downtown Gainesville to provide resources to adjacent communities and the city. The proposal envisions UF’s Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship, and Shands Arts in Medicine working collaboratively with the City of Gainesville and Gainesville community members to activate the site and create a new community center—a knowledge and empowerment hub—on South Main Street.

The Creating Healthy Communities (CHC) Digital Badge

The CHC Digital Badge from the University of Florida represents the successful completion of the 3-month experiential collective learning journey in which participants develop a social entrepreneurial program, project, or venture that addresses a public health issue affecting the wellbeing of a population of people though arts and culture. This mastermind experience* is for socially engaged artists and creatives seeking to enhance their impact as change agents for the health and well-being of communities.

Featured Guest Practitioners and Topic Area

Parker Van Hart, Creativity/Innovation
Dr. David Fakunle, Arts in Public Health
Dr. Kristin Joys, Scalability & Sustainability
Anna Taylor, Social Entrepreneurship Vehicles
Claire Crum, Operations
Alana Jackson, Resource Acquisition
Kristin Blitch, Marketing & Communications
Liz Getman, Equitable & Authentic Storytelling
Ms. Kimberlee Nicole Smith, Senior Advisor for Innovation and Strategic Engagement, Lead Facilitator

Arts in Health Summer Intensive

For over 20 years, this world-renowned professional development program has supported creatives, from all walks of life, in exploring the roles of the arts in both healthcare and public health contexts. Our multi-modal, interdisciplinary program welcomes anyone, at all levels of experience, to learn how the arts can enhance health. While we will offer our 2022 programming exclusively online, the images above from previous years denote the kinds of activities and workshops we will experience—all adapted to a digital environment.

Arts in Health Research Intensive

The Arts in Health Research Intensive is a five-day residential program presented by the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine and the UK Arts Health Early Career Research Network. It provides a rich introduction to the evidence base around the arts in health and the fundamentals of evaluation and research.

Interdisciplinary Research Lab

The Center for Arts in Medicine's Interdisciplinary Research Lab is a highly dynamic research lab comprised of 35 undergraduate and graduate students, research associates, and faculty from the arts, health sciences and other disciplines. With faculty mentorship, students provide research assistance on an array of studies that represent collaborations across numerous disciplines.

Engaging Arts to Build Vaccine Confidence on UF's Main Campus

The UF College of the Arts and the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions collaborated on a multi-modal, arts-based vaccine confidence initiative to build confidence in and increase demand for COVID-19 vaccination on UF's main campus. Seven projects were selected for funding and will feature art installations and events that encourage students to get vaccinated

UF Center for Arts in Medicine Friends in the Field Engagement Program

The UF Center for Arts in Medicine invites you to be a part of our new Friends in the Field engagement program. This program will connect our current graduate students with subject matter experts working in arts in health across the nation.

The Friends in the Field program will foster relationships between students and friends based on shared interests, disciplines, and geography, resulting in increases in student engagement, student retention in the field post-graduation through employment, field engagement with the Center, and increased connections among the field at large.

Dance in Medicine

The University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, in conjunction with the School of Theatre and Dance, offers an Undergraduate Certificate in Dance in Medicine to UF students. This certificate can serve as a credential for developing post-baccalaureate educational pathways and career options. In the certificate program students have the opportunity to observe and apply the arts in healthcare and/or community contexts. Students have access to these types of learning experiences: hands-on practical experience with patients and/or community members, exposure to arts in health related fields, the opportunity to develop career readiness skills such as oral and written communication, leadership, collaboration and problem solving. This certificate will allow students to interact with patients and/or community members, arts in health leaders, artists, healthcare professionals, arts administrators, and non-profit organizations.

Creating Healthy Communities 2022 Convening

With the overarching goal of creating stronger, healthier, and more equitable communities through cross-sector collaboration, this convening will engage people working and thinking at the intersections of the arts, public health, and community development.

Against a vibrant backdrop of arts and cultural practices, this two-day convening will provide opportunities for connection, dialogue, strategic thinking, and learning. This engaging event will feature diverse and effective practice, research and policy models from around the world, as well as provocations to advance innovation and progress for building healthier, more equitable communities in the United States.

HOW DO WE PREPARE STUDENTS FOR CAREERS?

Grad programs include administrative, entrepreneurial, & research skills and structures such as proposal writing, pitching, leadership skills, and grant writing - specifically in the Pro Sems in the MA.

We are the only MA-AIM in the US.

We are seen as the go-to resource for AiH education and research.

Diverse faculty experience and expertise.

20+ years of AiH educational programs.

Strong partnership/relationship with UF Health Shands AIM.

Developing future leaders in the field.

Developing research and evaluation skills of students, offering research and evaluation experience.

Faculty and staff are empowered to pursue their research agendas and professional development goals

WHO ARE OUR PARTNERS

o Research: NEA, Bloomberg, UCL, a2ru, World Health Organization, U. of Global Health Rwanda, IAM Lab, YBCA, The Tenacious Rose Project, One Nation One Project (ONOP), City of Gainesville

o Education: a2ru

o Convening: ACTA, Drexel, SHN, JHU IAM Lab, Tulane, BC-U, IDEAS xLab, FL DAC, WHO, YBCA, ONOP

o Funding: Pabst-Steinmetz, FL DAC, Bloomberg, NEA, Mellon

WHO ARE THE 5 BIGGEST EMPLOYERS OF OUR GRADUATES?

o Hospitals

o Community Arts Organizations

o Long term care facilities (rec/activities specialists)

o Schools (K-12)

o Universities

UF COLLEGE OF THE ARTS