S2:E7 Networks for arts, culture, health, and wellbeing – Rosie Dow in conversation with Stephanie Fortunato

08/11/22 • 32 min

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Episode Summary:
In this episode, our host Stephanie Fortunato speaks with Rosie Dow, Manager of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health at UCL. They talk about Rosie’s new role at UCL, her previous work leading “HARP”, the benefits of singing, as well as the essential role of networks in the field of arts and health.

External References:

The World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health is based at University College London.
Health Arts Research People (HARP) – a program that allowed arts interventions to play a more prominent role in the health and wellbeing of people in Wales.
The Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance is a national membership organisation representing everyone who believes that creativity and cultural engagement can transform our health and wellbeing.
New Pathways is the largest sexual violence support provider in Wales, with 30 years’ experience of delivering specialist therapeutic support to adults and children affected by the trauma of rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse.
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru is the Welsh language national theatre of Wales. The theatre has been running the ar y dibyn series of creative workshops since 2019.

Guest Bio:
Rosie Dow is the Manager of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health at UCL. Previously, Rosie ran ‘HARP’, a large Arts and Health innovation and research programme with a focus on how the arts can play a more prominent role in the health and wellbeing of people in Wales. Rosie has been working in the field of arts and health for over ten years. +

External References:

The World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health is based at University College London.
Health Arts Research People (HARP) – a program that allowed arts interventions to play a more prominent role in the health and wellbeing of people in Wales.
The Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance is a national membership organisation representing everyone who believes that creativity and cultural engagement can transform our health and wellbeing.
New Pathways is the largest sexual violence support provider in Wales, with 30 years’ experience of delivering specialist therapeutic support to adults and children affected by the trauma of rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse.
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru is the Welsh language national theatre of Wales. The theatre has been running the ar y dibyn series of creative workshops since 2019.

Previous Episode

S2:E6 Playful public spaces – Ilana Altman in conversation with Stephanie Fortunato

Summary:

In this episode, our host Stephanie Fortunato speaks with Ilana Altman, Co-Executive Director, about The Bentway’s artful and playful approach to activating public spaces – as illustrated by their 2021 Playing in Public season and accompanying Play Provocations resource that encourages cities to become more play-friendly. They discuss the evolution of The Bentway as a platform for connected urban life, and the importance of programming public spaces to be not only responsive to the needs of communities, but to also encourage creative practice. Ilana also shares the plans for The Bentway's STREET season, which promises a summer of public art to help their audience see the streets of Toronto anew.

After, Stephanie is joined by fellow host Criena Gehrke to discuss key takeaways. They reflect on how dynamic public spaces allow users to respond to the sites in a plethora of imaginative ways. They highlight the importance of this open approach to public spaces for progressive and inclusive urban planning.

References:

The Bentway is a public space under The Gardiner Expressway, which The Bentway Conservancy operates, maintains, and programmes as a platform for creative practice, public art, and connected urban life.
The Artful City, a platform to explore, debate and contemplate public art in Toronto.
Play Provocations, a resource published by The Bentway together with Daily Tous Les Jours, a Montreal-based art and design studio. The resource synthesises the major insights they gleaned from The Bentway’s Summer 2021 Season, Playing in Public. It expands the definition of play, explores why play is important for both children and adults, and how we can make our cities more play-friendly. A downloadable copy of their resource can be accessed here.
Playing in Public, The Bentway’s Summer 2021 Season, is a neighbourhood-based exhibition consisting of 16 artist projects that explored different facets of play. The projects ranged from installations, to connective and roaming projects, and pop-up events. Importantly, the installations were not just situated at The Bentway but also at other properties within the vicinity, encouraging audiences to explore and navigate the neighbourhood.
Walk Walk Dance, a work by Daily Tous Les Jours, was installed at The Bentway in 2020. The project is highly touch-based, consisting of music-making lines that allow audiences to “play” music when stepped, jumped or danced on.
The Under-Gardiner Public Realm Plan has recently been unveiled by The Bentway in partnership with The City of Toronto.
STREET is The Bentway's Summer 2022 Season, which promises a summer of public art to help their audience see the streets of Toronto anew.

Guest bio:

Ilana Altman is Co-Executive Director of The Bentway. She is a cultural planner and designer who has a background in art and architecture. Prior to joining The Bentway, she has worked with notable design firms and led the curation and design of exhibitions and installations at the SFMOMA, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2014, Ilana founded the Artful City, a Toronto collective that aims to advance public art research, policies, and imaginations.

Next Episode

S2:E8 Creating unique spaces for culture in Copenhagen – Jesper Koefoed-Melson in conversation with Adrian

Summary:

In this episode, our host Adrian Ellis speaks with Jesper Koefoed-Melson, Founding Director of Kulturdistriktet, about activating unique spaces in Copenhagen with cultural events and festivals, fostering a vibrant community and enriching the city’s cultural landscape.

Jesper discusses Kulturdistriktet unique framework, placing emphasis on the importance of trusting the artists and creating an open platform to all participants, as opposed more traditional approaches to developing cultural events. He also talks about the birth of Kulturdistriktet, and how he capitalized on the abundant down-time resulting from the pandemic to research different models for cultural districts. Adrian and Jesper also touch on the political support Kulturdistriktet has received from the city of Copenhagen, its relationship with tourism, how the organization aims to address the climate crisis, and its future goals with incorporating technology into its events.

References:

Kulturdistriktet is an association of visionary urban developers, artists, cultural institutions, and companies that have joined forces in creating an engaging framework for culture, cooperation, and innovation throughout the Østerbro and Nordhavn neighborhoods in Copenhagen, Denmark.

GivRum facilitates user-driven urban development with local communities as point of departure.

Vida Local is a team of advisers and project managers who work for the creation of strong communities, attractive areas, and innovative partnerships.

The Tunnel Factory is a Copenhagen-based cultural hot spot with an international outlook. It originated as the birthplace of the tunnel elements connecting Copenhagen and Malmø

Åben Festival is a collaboration between audience, artists, cultural creators, institutions, and companies.

GCDN’s Publications – which Jesper cites as primary inspiration for building the framework of Kulturdistriktet

The Haves and the Have-Yachts, referenced by Adrian Ellis, is a New Yorker article written by Evan Osnos and published on July 18, 2022.

Bio:

Jesper is the Founding Director of Kulturdistriktet, an association of visionary urban developers, artists, cultural institutions and companies that have joined forces in creating an engaging framework for culture, cooperation and innovation throughout Østerbro and Nordhavn in Copenhagen. Jesper is also a partner in the urban development organization GivRum and has years of experience in developing innovative cities and organizations based on human resources. With the help of broad commitment and ownership, he has set the course for locally rooted solutions that have contributed to lifting policies and implementing strategies within, for example, settlement, citizen involvement and business and cultural development. Jesper establishes sustainable organizations that continue the solutions he has helped to launch. He has a master's degree in pedagogy and performance design from RUC and has since supplemented his master's degree with a diploma in art and cultural management from the Center for Performing Arts Development. Alongside his studies, Jesper started his first company, but since 2010 it has been about GivRum.