The Proposal

Abstract

While the connection between arts, culture, and public health is not new, intentional efforts toward cross-sector collaboration in these areas are being lifted as timely and transformative. This is a call to artists, creatives, culture bearers, and activators. This is a call to public health practitioners, doctors, educators, and the myriad of peoples whose work touches the public’s health. In this piece, I propose a marriage of these two seemingly disparate disciplines—arts and public health—their actors and engagements. In this piece, I propose this marriage as dance, as movement, as evolution, even revolution. What could our world look like if more of the people and the sectors of arts and public health worked together to advance our most pressing public health priorities? I offer this work to help us imagine the possibilities of growing this intentional collaboration. This piece both proposes and marries; iterates and exemplifies. By presenting this work as poetry, I propose that art not be the afterthought, the accent, the cherry on top as we strive to address public health issues, a multitude exacerbated and illuminated in the face of COVID-19. I posit that art is the consistency, the substance, the forethought, and a vehicle through which we can come to realize the positive change that we hope to see. As we ponder our next potential public health engagements, know this. Not only can this marriage soothe us and move us; but it can literally improve us. This is the proposal. Will you accept?

To view the original version of this poem, see the supplemental material section of this article online.