UNGA Healing Arts Week by Jameel Arts & Health Lab and WHO in NYC

UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) Healing Arts Week by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) is returning to New York City (Sept. 20-26). Mobilising a global coalition of artists, health and culture leaders, researchers, policymakers and community members, it celebrates the role of the arts in supporting health and well-being for all.

Now in its third edition, the festival takes place alongside the 80th Session of UNGA, transforming iconic venues and neighbourhood spaces across all five boroughs of NYC (The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island) into sites of creative care, cultural participation, and public health innovation.

The 2025 festival has a bold new vision: to recognise arts engagement as a health behaviour — on par with physical activity, nutrition, sleep, time in nature, and social connection — and to embed the arts more deeply into health systems and social infrastructure, both locally and globally.

This year’s festival features events at iconic venues including Carnegie Hall, The Julliard School, Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, NYU Steinhardt, NYC H+H/ Lincoln Hospital, The Public Theater, and community spaces across all the five NYC boroughs.

Buildings in the Lincoln Center.

Highlights include a Well-Being Concert at Carnegie Hall; the launch of a photo essay at the Guggenheim Museum; a research symposium at NYU Steinhardt; a social prescribing roundtable at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; a film screening on music and brain health at Juilliard/Lincoln Center; a freestyle street dance jam at Public Records in Brooklyn; panels on the arts and neighbourhood health at NYC H+H/Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, alongside community events and workshops that spans all five boroughs of New York City.

UNGA Healing Arts Week will also make a high-profile announcement of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s inaugural Global Healing Arts Ambassador. The fest has had previous activations in Scotland, London, Venice, Paris, Jaipur, Riyadh, Lviv, Houston and Atlanta, and is planned for Barcelona and Singapore later this year. This year’s partners include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Julliard Extension, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, The Guggenheim, J.P. Morgan, NYC Health + Hospitals and Newport Global Summit.

The rich variety of events reflects the growing momentum of the arts and health movement and its relevance to diverse communities and care settings. UNGA Healing Arts Week 2025 also marks the launch of a city-wide mapping of New York’s arts and health ecosystem through the Healing Arts New York Network, in partnership with the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, to connect and amplify organisations using the arts to promote community well-being. “UNGA Healing Arts Week 2025 highlights the growing global recognition that the arts are not just enriching — they are essential to health,” said Christopher Bailey, Co-Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab and WHO Arts & Health Lead.

Carnegie Hall in NYC.

“This year’s programme reflects a worldwide movement, connecting hospitals, cultural spaces and communities, to demonstrate how creativity is transforming care.” “We are at a pivotal moment,” said Prof. Nisha Sajnani, Co-Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab, Director of Drama Therapy, NYU Steinhardt and co-founder of the Healing Arts New York network. “UNGA Healing Arts Week is about turning evidence into action — bringing together artists, educators, researchers and policymakers to redesign systems of care, build collective resilience, and embed creativity into the fabric of clinical and public health.”

Launched in 2025 with the support of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the HANYC (Healing Arts New York City) is the first city-based hub of the global Healing Arts movement led by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab and WHO. HANYC is a community of practice dedicated to making New York’s creative health sector visible, valued, and accessible. It brings together artists, creative arts therapists, cultural and public health leaders, healthcare providers, and educators to highlight the vital role of the arts in supporting well-being. With a focus on equity, the network works to embed creative health in healthcare, education, and community life, expand access to programming, and inspire investment that strengthens the health and vitality of all New Yorkers. The network is led by Nisha Sajnani, Jill Sonke, Yazmany Arboleda, Sarah Johnson and Larissa Trinder and is coordinated by Jernie Millan.

Wellness artwork by Brazilian-American artist Priscila De Carvalho.

The Jameel Arts & Health Lab is a global initiative to measurably improve health and wellness through the arts. With a focus on overlooked and underserved communities, the Lab leverages scientific evidence, artist-led advocacy and capacity building, to drive the integration of the arts into mainstream healthcare. It is the first major initiative of its kind to be supported by WHO. The Lab was launched in 2023 by WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Steinhardt School at New York University, Community Jameel and Culturunners.

The Lab, in collaboration with WHO, also leverages scientific evidence, artist-led advocacy, and a global Healing Arts campaign, to drive the integration of the arts in clinical and public health. The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund aims to increase access and opportunity for all New Yorkers and foster healthy and vibrant communities. “The arts can be a powerful ally in our quest to improve health for all,” says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO. “I have seen the impact of the arts on community well-being, and I’m very pleased that this collaboration with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab will help us understand the science of that impact in order to improve the lives of people from all backgrounds.”