NEW YORK — 20 SEPTEMBER 2025 — UNGA Healing Arts Week by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, returns to New York City, mobilising a global coalition of artists, health and culture leaders, researchers, policymakers and community members to celebrate the role of the arts in supporting health and wellbeing for all.
Now in its third edition, the festival takes place alongside the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), transforming iconic venues and neighbourhood spaces across all five boroughs into sites of creative care, cultural participation and public health innovation.
The 2025 festival centres 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 Centre, the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education (NYU Steinhardt), and Human Development, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (NYC Health + Hospitals), The Public Theatre and community spaces across all five boroughs.
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 wellbeing.
Christopher Bailey, co-director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab, and arts and health lead, World Health Organisation, said: “UNGA Healing Arts Week 2025 highlights the growing global recognition that the arts are not just enriching – they are essential to health.
“This year’s programme reflects a worldwide movement, connecting hospitals, cultural spaces and communities to demonstrate how creativity is transforming care.”
Nisha Sajnani, co-director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab, director of drama therapy, NYU Steinhardt, and co-founder of the Healing Arts New York Network said: “We are at a pivotal moment. 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.”
UNGA Healing Arts Week will also include a high-profile announcement of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s inaugural Global Healing Arts Ambassador.
NYU Steinhardt research symposium: A full-day convening that asks: Can the arts be considered a health behaviour alongside sleep, movement, and nutrition? The event will connect emerging research with practice and policy recommendations, and features a keynote address by Professor Daisy Fancourt, chair of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab steering committee and author of 'Art cure: The science of how the arts save lives'.
Photo essay launch: Debut of the Series’ Photo Essay at the Guggenheim Museum on September 24th. Launch will include a keynote presentation in the iconic Peter B. Lewis Theatre.
The economics of arts and health policy roundtable: Hosted at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, this high-level roundtable will explore social prescribing as a pathway to realising the economic, clinical and public health potential of the arts as a driver of care innovation and health equity.
UNGA wellbeing concert and reception, Carnegie Hall: An immersive musical experience with Mexican-American jazz singer Magos Herrera, exploring music’s role in supporting emotional regulation, connection and mental health.
Film screening and panel discussion of 'My brain: After the rupture' at Lincoln Centre: The incredible and inspiring story of broadcaster, writer and musician Clemency Burton-Hill, as she rebuilds her life following a tragic brain injury.
Freestyle street dance jam at Public Records in Brooklyn: A creative experience hosted by LayeRhythm weaves together freestyle dance and live music to celebrate the vibrancy of street and club dance cultures and promote community wellbeing.
Arts for the blues: Workshop at NYU Steinhardt: First developed in Britain at Edge Hill University and the University of Salford, this alternative model for treating depression has since been adapted for use with children, National Health Service staff, mothers and babies.
'State of mind: Mobile unit and public works' at The Public Theatre: As the United States struggles with a loneliness epidemic, join artists Pablo Hernandez Basulto and Michael Rohd in a participatory session exploring how theatre can build social connection, trust and coalition.
Arts & Minds interactive gallery tours at The Met: Join Arts & Minds co-founder Carolyn Halpin-Healy as she leads an interactive gallery tour with an art-making workshop at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Arts & Minds programmes are created for people living with dementia or memory loss as well as their caregivers.
NYC Health + Hospitals: Bridging community, care and culture: This two-part panel discussion will re-imagine how connections between clinical and cultural ecosystems can be strengthened to address the rising mental and public health challenges in the Bronx.