Arts, Health Care, and Humanities in Action
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: 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:
• Lee Covington/Renee Griffin: Seniors Services, Inc.
• Shannon Stokes: Winston-Salem Arts Council
• Christina Soriano: Wake Forest University
• Tracy McGinnis: Southminster
• Lia Miller: Creative Aging Network – NC
• Heather Ikemire: Lifetime Arts
10:45-10:55am
Break
10:55-11:00am
Movement Break: Arts Experience 1
• Christina Soriano: 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: Reynolds Professor of Dance, Co-Director Wake the Arts Center, Wake Forest University
• Christina Hugenschmidt: Rebecca Shaw Professor, Director – Memory Counseling Program, Associate Professor – Gerontology and Geriatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Panel 2: Prescribing Arts as a Health Care Tool in Forsyth County
Moderated by Christina Soriano and featuring:
• Dr. Kate Callahan: Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• John Beck: Wake Forest University, University of North Carolina School for the Arts
• Ashley Morgan: 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:
• Dr. David Popoli: Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Dr. Barbara Lister-Sink: Salem College
• Dr. Jen Sullivan: Advocate Health
• Matt Olin: Charlotte is Creative
• Andrea Camp: Neuroarts Blueprint
Lunch: 12:30pm-1:15pm – Register here
Afternoon Session – Register here
1:15-1:30pm
Arts Experience 2: HealthRHYTHMS® – Drumming
• John Beck: Wake Forest University and University of North Carolina School for the Arts Departments of Music
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:
• Kevin Bitterman: Kenan Institute at University of North Carolina School for the Arts
• Dr. Sarah Wilbur: Duke University
• Dr. Allison Calhoun: Winston-Salem State University
• Dr. Sudha Shreeniwas: University of North Carolina – Greensboro
• Dr. Christina Hugenschmidt: Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Dr. Ana Iltis: WFU Humanities Institute
2:45pm-3:00pm
Break
3:00-3:45pm
Arts Experience 3: Narrative Medicine, Visual Art
• Betsy Messick: Teaching Artist, Sawtooth School for Visual Art
• Aimee Mepham: Associate Director, Humanities Institute – Wake Forest University
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 University of North Carolina School for the Arts Departments of Music
Kevin Bitterman
Executive Director, Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School for the Arts
Allison Calhoun, MS
Clinical Assistant Professor, Winston-Salem State University
Kathryn E. Callahan, MD, MS
Geriatrician, Wake Forest Baptist Health
Andrea Camp
NeuroArts Blueprint
Lee Covington
President and CEO, Senior Services, Inc.
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
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
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
Betsy Messick
Teaching Artist, 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
Sudha Shreeniwas, PhD
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Sandy Smalling
participant involved in Neuroarts research
Christina Soriano, MFA, MBA
Reynolds Professor of Dance, Co-Director Wake the Arts Center, Wake Forest University
Shannon Stokes
Vice President of Strategy and Community Impact, Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County
Jen Sullivan, MD, MPH
Leader and Vice Chief Academic Officer, National Service Lines, Advocate Strategy
Sarah Wilbur, PhD
Associate Professor of the Practice of Dance, Duke University
Wake Forest University support from:
Wake the Arts Center
Humanities Institute
Translational Science Center
Center for Bioethics, Health and Society
Co-convened by:
Senior Services, Inc.
The Arts Council of Winston-Salem
Arts on Prescription Advisory Board Members (APAB)