WAMFest 2027 ARTS In Health, Check back in October for 2027 Dates.
ARTS In Health
In 2025, we launched our ARTS In Health program. This program brings the arts into community settings, including but not limited to Veterans and their families, Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Grief Workshops, Mental Health, Older Adult Communities, Food Insecurity and At Risk Communities, with a focus on aesthetics, creative engagement and using the arts for healing and social interaction. The program aims to facilitate the improvement of the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of our participants while advocating for and spreading awareness of the health benefits of arts participation. We collaborate with regional and state partners, and seek guidance from other industry leaders in the health sector to achieve our objectives. Workshops through our ARTS In Health program include:
Stories in Motion: combines spoken word, poetry, music, and dance to create a uniquely interpretive and sensorial experience. Poetry is created in our workshops and turned into a performance with music and dance in real time. Each poem/dance provides a catalyst for discussion: language, imagery, emotional embodiment, and physical interpretation.
Memoir Writing: Writing inspired by an object that is important and dear to our writers.
The PLATFORM: Literary Open Mic with featured guest artists working in the field.
Horticultural Arts: Engage participants in nature-based activities including floral arranging, horticultural crafts, and modified gardening experiences that focus on stimulating the senses, memory, motor skills, and social interaction.
Object Writing: Learning the art of composition and creating poems from photography.
WAMFest: ARTS in Health
ARTS By The People and Fairleigh Dickinson University presents WAMFest 2026: ARTS in Health; a two-day festival of creative workshops and performances designed to engage Nursing, Psychology, and Allied Health students at Fairleigh Dickinson University as well as regional health workers, while encouraging collaboration with the university’s Arts, Communication, and Humanities programs.
As New Jersey’s premier event at the intersection of arts and health, ARTS in Health, WAMFest celebrates how the arts foster skills — such as creativity, adaptability, empathy, curiosity, attention to detail, and communication — that are essential to the field of healthcare. However, sessions will also invite healthcare students and workers to build community, process and express job-related stress, and expand focus and imagination. In other words, WAMFest 2026: Arts In Health takes a holistic approach to wellness. When those who steward the well-being of others take care of themselves, they are better equipped for their work.
All workshops are open to the public and barrier free.
If you need assistance, please reach out to us at info@artsbythepeople.org with questions and accessibility needs.
Festival schedule is subject to change. To sign up for workshops, CLICK HERE
Workshops are limited to 20 participants. There will be a waitlist for ‘observing only’.
Photos of images and participants from our workshops.