Arts, Health Care, and Humanities in Action

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Friday, February 13, 2026
The Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, at Senior Services, Inc.
114 W. 30th Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27105

Register here for this one-day, free symposium gathering artists, scholars, healthcare and human services professionals, clinicians, patients/service recipients, funders and community leaders to discuss the future of the arts and humanities as a supportive tool in North Carolina’s systems of health care, human services and higher education.

The catalyst for this conversation is the Winston-Salem Arts Council-funded Arts on Prescription pilot study, an innovative project that brings together leadership from the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness at Senior Services, Inc., staff from the Winston-Salem Arts Council, faculty and staff from Wake Forest University / Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and independent teaching artists to test an Arts on Prescription (Arts Rx) Program for older adults in Forsyth County.

We will hear about findings from the pilot study and will also learn about the Arts Rx Program at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center that inspired the project. Our discussions will also highlight the programs of several organizations on campuses and in communities working at the intersections of the arts, research, health care, human services and the humanities that could help grow and support the Arts Rx Program and others like it in NC and beyond, through collaborative Wake Forest and various community partnered teams.

Keynote: Aly Maier Lokuta, MA
NJ Performing Arts Center

Aly Maier Lokuta is an artist and arts in health consultant based in Brooklyn, NY. As Assistant Vice President for Arts & Well-Being at NJPAC, Aly co-creates initiatives that leverage NJPAC’s role as an anchor cultural institution, using the arts as a catalyst for positive change, empowering communities to thrive through creative expression and holistic well-being. As an arts and health leader, she led the largest public mural project since the historic WPA era and contributed to the Advisory Task Force for the first Social Prescribing pilot in the United States, CultureRx. Aly regularly directs national arts in public health convenings, teaches graduate-level courses on research and evaluation ethics and methods, and co-authored the Arts on Prescription Field Guide.

Schedule of events

Morning Session – Register here

8:30-9:00am

Coffee and light breakfast

9:00-9:30am

Welcome and Goal Setting
Greetings from Wake Forest University, Seniors Services Inc., and Winston-Salem Arts Council representatives

9:30-10:45am

Keynote Address: “What Matters to You? Arts & Culture, Evidence, and a Prescription for Belonging”
• Aly Maier Lokuta, MA: Assistant Vice President for Arts & Well-Being, NJ Performing Arts Center

Panel 1: Arts Rx State of the Field – From National Trends to State Impacts
Moderated by Aly Maier Lokuta and featuring:
• Renee Griffin – Creative Aging & Partnerships Officer, Senior Services, Inc.
• Shannon Stokes: Founder, Healing Unlimited Wellness Collective
• Christina Soriano, MFA, MBA: Reynolds Professor of Dance, Co-Director Wake the Arts Center, Wake Forest University
• Tracy McGinnis: Vice President of philanthropy and strategic initiatives, Southminster
• Lia Miller: Co-founder/Executive Director – Creative Aging Network – NC
• Heather Ikemire, PhD: Executive Director, Lifetime Arts

10:45-10:55am

Break

10:55-11:00am

Movement Break: Arts Experience 1
• Christina Soriano, MFA, MBA: Reynolds Professor of Dance, Co-Director Wake the Arts Center, Wake Forest University

11:00am-11:45am

Prescribing Arts as a Health Care Tool in Forsyth County:
Initial Findings, Next Steps
• Christina Soriano, MFA, MBA: Reynolds Professor of Dance, Co-Director Wake the Arts Center, Wake Forest University

Panel 2: Prescribing Arts as a Health Care Tool in Forsyth County
Moderated by Christina Soriano and featuring:
• Kathryn E. Callahan, MD, MS: Geriatrician, Wake Forest Baptist Health
• Ashley Morgan: Project Manager, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Shelia Grissard, Sandy Smalling, Brenda Hunter: participants involved in Neuroarts research

11:45pm – 12:30pm

Panel 3: Amplifying Healthcare Voices in North Carolina’s Arts and Health Landscape
Moderated by Christina Hugenschmidt and featuring:
• David M. Popoli, MD, FAAPMR, CAQSM: Associate Professor, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Pediatrics Clinical Chair of Research, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Medical Director, Dance and Performing Arts Medicine Clinic Course Director, Introduction to Clinical Reasoning and Integrative Thinking
• Barbara Lister-Sink, EdD: Professor of Piano, Salem College
• Jen Sullivan, MD, MPH: Leader and Vice Chief Academic Officer, National Service Lines, Advocate Strategy
• Matt Olin: Co-Founder & Chief Community Officer, Charlotte Is Creative
• Andrea Camp: Senior Advisor, NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative

Lunch: 12:30pm-1:15pm – Register here

Afternoon Session – Register here

1:15-1:30pm

Arts Experience 2: HealthRHYTHMS® – Drumming
• John R. Beck: Professor Wake Forest University and Emeritus Professor University of North Carolina School of the Arts

1:30-2:45pm

Evaluating Success: From Partnership to Policy
• Marcel Foster: co-founder and director – Performance Hypothesis, LLC

Panel 4: University perspective / contributions
Moderated by Marcel Foster and featuring:
• Laurel Donley, Vice Provost of Student Affairs, UNCSA
• Sarah Wilbur, PhD: Associate Professor of the Practice of Dance, Duke University
• Allison Calhoun, MS: Clinical Assistant Professor, Winston-Salem State University
• Sudha Shreeniwas, PhD: Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina – Greensboro
• Christina Hugenschmidt, PhD: Rebecca Shaw Professor, Director – Memory Counseling Program, Associate Professor – Gerontology and Geriatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Ana Iltis, PhD: Professor, WFU Department of Philosophy; WFU Humanities Institute Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar: The Arts, the Humanities, and Health Care in Action; Director, Center for Bioethics, Health, and Society at Wake Forest University

2:45pm-3:00pm

Break

3:00-3:45pm

Arts Experience 3: Narrative Medicine, Visual Art
• Betsy Messick: Director of Art + Wellness, Textiles and Community Engagement, Sawtooth School for Visual Art
• Aimee Mepham, MFA: Associate Director, Humanities Institute – Wake Forest University; Co-Director, Story, Health, and Healing Initiative

3:45-4:15pm

Breakout Sessions and Future Planning

4:15-4:30pm

Where do we go from here? Reporting Back and next steps

Other speakers and panelists include:

John R. Beck
Professor Wake Forest University and Emeritus Professor University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Allison Calhoun, MS
Clinical Assistant Professor, Winston-Salem State University

Kathryn E. Callahan, MD, MS
Geriatrician, Wake Forest Baptist Health

Andrea Camp
Senior Advisor, NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative

Lee Covington
President, Senior Services, Inc.

Laurel Donley
Vice Provost of Student Affairs, University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Marcel Foster
Co-founder and director, Performance Hypothesis, LLC

Renee Griffin
Creative Aging & Partnerships Officer, Senior Services, Inc.

Shelia Grissard
participant involved in Neuroarts research

Shannon Henry
Interim President and CEO,
Winston-Salem Arts Council

Christina Hugenschmidt, PhD
Rebecca Shaw Professor, Director – Memory Counseling Program, Associate Professor – Gerontology and Geriatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Brenda Hunter
participant involved in Neuroarts research

Heather Ikemire, PhD
Executive Director, Lifetime Arts

Ana Iltis, PhD
Professor, WFU Department of Philosophy; WFU Humanities Institute Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar: The Arts, the Humanities, and Health Care in Action; Director, Center for Bioethics, Health, and Society at Wake Forest University

Barbara Lister-Sink, EdD
Professor of Piano, Salem College

Kim McAllister, PhD
Vice Provost, Research, Scholarly Inquiry & Creative Work, Wake Forest University

Tracy McGinnis
Vice President of philanthropy and strategic initiatives, Southminster

Aimee Mepham, MFA
Associate Director, Humanities Institute, Wake Forest University
Co-Director, Story, Health, and Healing Initiative

Betsy Messick
Director of Art + Wellness, Textiles and Community Engagement, Sawtooth School for Visual Art

Lia Miller
Co-founder/Executive Director – Creative Aging Network – NC

Matt Olin
Co-Founder & Chief Community Officer, Charlotte Is Creative

David M. Popoli, MD, FAAPMR, CAQSM
Associate Professor, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Pediatrics Clinical Chair of Research, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Medical Director, Dance and Performing Arts Medicine Clinic Course Director, Introduction to Clinical Reasoning and Integrative Thinking