Arts Council in the Business of Supporting Artists: Local Storyteller to Attend Arts in Healthcare Training

LANSING, Mich., July 12, 2010 – The Arts Council of Greater Lansing today announced the award of a $500 scholarship to storytelling artist Steveanna Roose of Ovid to attend the 9th Annual Arts in Healthcare Summer Intensive Training at the University of Florida from July 6-23, 2010.

Roose, an experienced storyteller with a master’s degree in public health, will use her training to help the Arts Council develop regional arts in healthcare initiatives. She also received a $400 scholarship from the University of Florida, which was the highest level of funding possible.

“The opportunity for Steveanna to attend the 2010 Arts in Healthcare Summer Intensive is uniquely tailored to her combined background in public health and storytelling,” said Arts Council Executive Director Leslie Donaldson. “We are excited she will use her education to help us develop new arts in healthcare initiatives similar to programs that already exist in areas such as Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids. This also aligns directly with efforts to engage the creative sector to create a new economy for greater Lansing,” Donaldson said.

Roose is supporting the Arts Council by benchmarking current arts in healthcare programs in the region and working with staff to develop an online regional Arts and Health Network. This network will share arts and healthcare information with community members while exploring and nurturing the development of arts and healthcare opportunities in the region.

“This course offers an amazing opportunity to help me connect my work in the arts and health,” Roose said. “My goal is to coordinate an arts in healthcare program in the Lansing region using the structures already in place including two hospitals, many arts organizations and medical/nursing education programs at Michigan State University and Lansing Community College,” Roose explained. “This course will lend credibility and help illuminate the need for arts in healthcare programming as I work with the ACGL to develop a strategic communications plan and partnerships.”

Since 1997, Roose has worked as a spoken word performer, workshop presenter, writer and non-profit consultant. She recently served as the first artist-in-residence for the Michigan 4-H Children’s Gardens at Michigan State University, and was one of seven artists invited to be a part of a three-year, federally-funded Michigan Art Project for Lansing Public Schools that involved training with the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts. She also attended the Society for Arts in Healthcare’s 2010 conference in April. For more information on arts in healthcare, visit the Society for Arts in Healthcare at www.thesah.org.

Founded in 1965, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing is a non-profit organization whose mission is to lead, advocate for and advance arts and culture in the capital region. For more information, visit www.www.lansingarts.org or call (517) 372-4636.