Dr. Mary Perkinson and Dr. Matthew Brooks were invited to present last month at “Building Bridges in Applied Arts and Health, Education, and Community: An International Arts & Wellbeing Conference.” Sponsored by the Journal of Applied Arts & Health, in association with the University of Wolverhampton (UK) and Houston Methodist Hospital Center for Performing Arts Medicine (USA), the 4-day conference in Telford, UK brought together leading educators, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to facilitate diverse dialogue with an emphasis on creativity and wellbeing in education and community. The conference focused on applied arts practice, research, scholarship, expressive arts therapy, community and education.

Drs. Perkinson and Brooks’ presentation shared about two partnerships between UNO and UNMC that bridge music and medicine–Sound Health and Nebraska Medical Orchestra–focusing on the internal and external value of these programs, building/sustaining these model partnerships, incorporating service learning, access, and inclusion, as well as assessment of goals.