The Greater Hartford Arts Council has announced the recipients of its 2017 “Arts + Wellness” Grants. These grants, supported by UnitedHealthcare, were given to four local arts organizations to produce programs that use creativity to enrich the lives and enhance the health and well-being of adults with physical disabilities and their families.

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Andrea Barton Reeves, president and CEO of Harc, Inc. (left) shared details about its 2017 Greater H ...

Andrea Barton Reeves, president and CEO of Harc, Inc. (left) shared details about its 2017 Greater Hartford Arts Council (GHAC) 2017 “Arts + Wellness” Grants project “Harc Arts Day” at a reception with other GHAC grant recipients, and UnitedHealthcare and GHAC staff, including Elizabeth Winsor, CEO, UnitedHealthcare National Accounts (center), and Cathy Malloy, CEO, GHAC (right). Grants, supported by UnitedHealthcare, were given to four local arts organizations to produce programs that use creativity to enrich the lives and enhance the health and well-being of adults with physical disabilities and their families. [PHOTO CREDIT: Alan Grant, Digital Creations]

The recipients – Charter Oak Cultural Center, Easter Seals’ Camp Hemlocks, Farmington Valley Arts Center and Harc, Inc. – were chosen by a panel of community volunteers and were honored today at the Arts Council’s 100 Pearl Street Gallery in Hartford.

“The Arts Council is proud to award ‘Arts + Wellness’ Grants to these four organizations for their outstanding artistic programming, which offers people with physical disabilities an outlet to express themselves, and showcase their talents and abilities,” said Cathy Malloy, CEO, Greater Hartford Arts Council. “We thank UnitedHealthcare for its continued support of this important grant program and for its commitment to helping improve the lives of our friends and neighbors.”

2017 “Arts + Wellness” Grant Recipients

Charter Oak Cultural Center’s Shared Ability Art and Dance

Shared Ability Art and Dance classes are an inclusive arts program that provides young people of all abilities an opportunity to work together and have a creative outlet to express themselves.

Easter Seals’ Camp Hemlocks Arts Enrichment Program

The Camp Hemlocks Arts Enrichment Program is a summer arts program that enables campers who have developmental and/or physical disabilities to connect with and participate in the arts in ways they would likely not otherwise have the opportunity. Campers will learn Zentangle, a meditative pen and ink drawing discipline, and movement and dance based on a “shared ability” approach.

Farmington Valley Arts Center’s Accessible Art for All

Farmington Valley Arts Center will provide traditional art classes for people who have acquired brain injuries (including stroke and traumatic brain injuries), as well as veterans, particularly those with a physical and/or developmental disability.

Harc, Inc.’s Harc Arts Day

Harc will invite people with physical disabilities, their families and the community to participate in creating a collage mural based on favorite landmarks in Hartford and surrounding towns to encourage connection and understanding among participants.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to support the Arts Council’s ‘Arts + Wellness’ Grant initiative, which helps fund arts-related programs to enable people with physical and mental disabilities to engage in creative, fun and therapeutic activities,” said Elizabeth Winsor, CEO of UnitedHealthcare National Accounts. “This year’s grant recipients and their works will make a difference in the lives of these individuals and their families.”

For more information on the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s “Arts + Wellness” Grants, visit www.LetsGoArts.org/wellness.

About the Greater Hartford Arts Council

The Greater Hartford Arts Council is the central voice for the cultural sector in our region. The organization secures community resources and responsibly reinvests those dollars through a stringent grant-making process into a wide array of organizations and programs that keep our community strong. The Arts Council promotes the arts as a regional asset and connects citizens to the arts. To learn more about Arts Council programs and services, as well as the United Arts Campaign, visit www.LetsGoArts.org or follow @letsgoarts_org on Twitter.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

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