2026 Healing Arts Chicago: An Arts x Health x Wellness Summit

Workshops. Artmaking. Panels. Food. Performances.
A 1-day citywide gathering celebrating the intersections of arts, health and wellness.
About this Event

Healing Arts Chicago: An Arts x Health x Wellness Summit

Saturday, October 10, 2026

Malcolm X College

1900 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60612

Introducing the Day

Returning to Malcolm X College, where Healing Arts Chicago artists receive their training and certification as community health workers, the annual summit will begin with remarks from city officials and a keynote address by , artist, activist, and founder of The Nap Ministry and the Rest Is Resistance framework.

Artist-led Workshops

Attendees will be able to attend workshops and activities led by:

Gideon Akande, Dinah Berkeley, Kenn Cook Jr., Natalia Cuevas, Crystle LiWayway Dino, Fettle, Joel Garcia, Leyda "Lady Sol" Garcia, Jewel Hale, Nashon Holloway, Sheeba Mays, Gloria I. Rivera, Pinqy Ring, Laura Sáenz, and Alyssa N. Villegas Rodriguez

Arts & Policy Sessions

Aligned with growing global and national trends exploring the impact of arts engagement as a preventative and rehabilitative measure for mental health, the 2026 summit highlights Chicago’s contributions to this growing field through sessions dedicated to research, policy, and advocacy.

Panels include:

• Artist-CHWs: The New Care Workforce: A two-part presentation and conversation sharing research findings on the impact of the first two years of the Healing Arts Chicago program and the evolution and implementation of the Artist-Community Health Worker (Artist-CHW) role. This conversation will feature Monique Delgado, MS, QMPH; artist Holiday Gerry; Nayeli Jimenez; and artist Mecca Perry. Moderated by Healing Arts Advisor Veronica Sek-Shubert, PhD.
• Mobilizing Healing Arts Infrastructure: Policy, Systems & Scale: A session exploring how international and U.S.-based policies are increasingly recognizing arts engagement as a vital strategy for strengthening mental health and community wellbeing. The session will examine effective strategies, implementation models, and opportunities for mobilizing arts in health work across diverse communities from around the globe. Panelists include CEO and Co Founder of arts and health consulting firm, Performance Hypothesis Marcel W. Foster, MPH; Chicago-based sculptor and mixed-media artist Sonja Henderson and Lund University (Sweden) professor Dr. Anita Jensen. The conversation will be moderated by interdisciplinary researcher, artist, and Healing Arts Chicago advisor, Dr. Alex Rodriguez.

Further program timing and details will be shared in the coming weeks.