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Similar to Well-Being Coaching, ArtsCare coaches are trained to help students identify their well-being need and then help to develop a plan that involves arts experiences, events, and/or behabiors that may help impact that area. Coaches can also assist with finding location, time, transportation, and/or tickets to support students[SB2] .

In addition to the many existing arts opportunities around the University, Bobcat ArtsCare also sponsors/hosts programming each semester in various locations on campus, including the Well-Being Wing, with the purpose of bringing students together to experience the arts in an approachable way. From weekly drop-in activities and tabling to specific workshops, students can try something new or reconnect to an arts activity.

Bobcat ArtsCare also strives to help students better understand the role of the arts as a coping strategy, as a means for connecting, and to sustain overall well-being. Information is shared through social media posts, podcasts, events, and other programming.

ºìÐÓÊÓƵ offers many free or accessible arts experiences—but knowing what's available, feeling comfortable attending, or finding someone to go with can sometimes be a challenge.

Bobcat ArtsCare helps make those connections easier.

Discover the benefits of the arts

You don't have to be an artist or arts student to benefit from the arts. Bobcat ArtsCare helps students explore how arts experiences can contribute to well-being and challenges the idea that the arts are only for people who study or excel in them.

Get support identifying arts, cultural and nature-based experiences that align with your interests, needs and goals.

Bobcat ArtsCare can help you find experiences that are free, easy to access and available on or around campus.

Looking for someone to attend an event with? Bobcat ArtsCare can help you explore ways to make social connections around shared arts experiences, including opportunities to invite someone to join you.

The Bobcat ArtsCare Program is based upon a framework called Arts Prescription that developed from Social Prescribing. This provides non-medical/non-clinical support for connecting individuals with resources that can address their unmet needs such as loneliness, social isolation, stress, or other social determinants of health. It can also be used to connect people to access experiences that will enhance and develop their well-being in a variety of ways. For this program, we include outdoor/nature experiences along with arts-based experiences and events that intersect with the performing, visual, and literary arts.

In the spring of 2024, Dr. Sharon R. Boyle, Associate Professor of Music Therapy and Director of Arts in Health, posed the idea to Wes Bonadio, Director of Well-Being & Recreation, and Tony Gregory, Assistant Director of Well-Being & Fitness to discuss the idea. The program has since been a co-creation between ºìÐÓÊÓƵ Arts in Health (housed in the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts) and Well-Being & Recreation (Student Affairs).

In 2025, the Bobcat ArtsCare Advisory Group was formed to develop partnerships, provide feedback to the Bobcat ArtsCare Leadership Team, and to provide support for the program by providing a range of arts and health perspectives.

Advisory Chair- Sharon R. Boyle, D.H.Sc., LPMT, MT-BC

• Associate Professor of Music Therapy
• Director of Arts in Health

Member- Caitlin Kraus, LPCC-S, LPMT, MT-BC

• Senior Counselor in Counseling and Psychological Services

Member- Sarah Ramey, MFA

• Assistant Professor of Dance

Member-  Alison Sincoff, MM,

• Professor of Flute

Member- Sara Berens, M.Ed., MFA

• Associate Professor of Instruction in Social and Public Health

• Wes Bonadio, Director of Well-Being & Recreation
• , Assistant Director of Well-Being & Fitness
• Shadrack Bannor, Graduate Assistant
• Kayla Boswell, Bobcat ArtsCare Student Supervisor

Rebecca VerNooy, Professor of Instruction in Performance, is a movement theater artist, actor and educator whose work explores physical theater, performance and creative collaboration. Her experience in theater education and movement-based practice brings additional creative opportunities to the Bobcat ArtsCare community.

Jessica Fletcher, Assistant Professor of Instruction in Music Therapy, brings professional experience in music therapy and a particular interest in the ways creative music-making can support well-being. Her background provides valuable connections between music, creativity and health.

Hannah Westfall is a music therapist who brings expertise in using music and creative experiences to support well-being and connection. Through her involvement with Bobcat ArtsCare, she helps connect students with opportunities to experience the benefits of music and the arts.