April 4, 2025

According to Psychology Today, arts-based therapies are gaining recognition as effective means of reducing stress, improving mood, and fostering emotional resilience. By engaging with art in a collaborative, non-clinical setting, students have the opportunity to build meaningful connections, explore their emotional landscapes, and enhance their overall sense of well-being.

The ArtRX Pilot Tutorial began during the spring term and is a collaboration between key figures in student wellness and the arts at Bennington, including Dina Janis, Faculty Sponsor; Li-Chen Chin, Vice President and Dean of Student Life; Ali Tartaglia, Associate Dean and Director of Integrative Wellness; and Jude Horan, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services. Eight students are taking part in the inaugural offering. 

The idea arose from Janis and her role as Artistic Director of Vermont Public Theater (VPT). She has long been interested in the movement towards Arts on Prescription. VPT participated in the Arts for Everybody programming last year. In addition, Janis attended the United Nations General Assembly Healing Arts Week at NYU Steinhardt School sponsored by Jameel Arts and Health Lab. Janis connected those at Bennington with others she had met to design a program that fit into Bennington’s existing arts framework. It integrates the healing potential of the arts with traditional mental health care and offers students a creative and holistic approach to well-being. 

“Having a structure like this that is intentional and engages the specific conversation about how art engagement with others helps break through the loneliness epidemic and sense of isolation and despair many of us feel has a profound and immediate impact,” said Janis. “It gets us all out the door, in a room in real time with others, and enjoying a shared experience. There is a deep power in that, I believe.”

Student participants agree. “I didn’t realize what the RX part meant when I first signed up. But during our first meeting, I learned what it was, and I have been loving it so far,” said Ariel Bergen '28, a student from the Philadelphia area. She described the joy of attending a concert of Tuvan throat singers Alash in Greenwall Auditorium earlier this term. “When I looked up [to the balcony], I could see this girl with her eyes shut, but she was really feeling the music. And I saw little kids dancing around,” she recalled. “The different ways we all experience art are so powerful.” 

Students engage with the arts event chosen as a part of the class. Ten events, plus an additional four optional events, are a part of the schedule. Events are both on and off campus and include visual art exhibitions, theater performances, music, poetry, and dance. 

“I like how different the events are: not just music, not just visual arts,” said Kalea Cockrum '28, a participant from San Francisco.  

“I think it is definitely influencing my view of what music is and what art is,” said Angelina Hund '28, a student from western New York. “I am going to concerts in genres I would never have been to.” She has attended a playwriting event where students acted out plays they had written and a jazzy indy pop concert hosted in a renovated church. “I get to peek into worlds I didn’t know existed. It gives me something to look forward to.” 

Beyond enjoying the performances, students also participate in weekly social brunches, facilitated by Janis. These gatherings take place in the Dining Hall at a reserved table and offer a chance for students to connect with each other and prepare for the upcoming arts events or debrief those they have seen lately. Students also meet people with differing perspectives and take a break from the often high-intensity academic environment. 

“In this class, I have met people I would have never met. Seeing their perspectives on things is interesting,” said Bergen. “I love the guided conversations. Dina is amazing at facilitating. It’s fun, but it is also more reflective than I expected, and I have gotten much more out of it than I anticipated.”

Cockrum agreed. “I like the brunches a lot. We are all under different disciplines, so we get a wider perspective. We all see the same events, but we all have different things we have picked up on and noticed.”

Perhaps the most important piece of the class for students is the motivation to take a break from high-intensity academics. Bergen shared, “Sometimes it is so hard to get motivation outside of class work to do things because I feel so busy all the time. ArtRX has been putting me into situations that I have pushed off. In the past, I might have thought, ‘why would I go to this concert when I could lay in bed instead?’ It’s given me motivation and a purpose to go. It has done wonders for me.”

Cockrum agreed. “Actually pulling ourselves out to go to things is difficult,” she said. “The class has pushed us out to go and explore.”

Exposure to the class is changing students’ behavior outside of class, too. “Intentionality has become important to me,” said Bergen. “I have been keeping away from mindlessly scrolling on tik tok. I think ArtRX has been helping that as well.” 

After her interview, Bergen was heading with her friends to a concert not associated with the class. “It’s a bunch of bands from campus, and they are playing sixties music,” she said. When asked if she thought she was more likely to attend a concert like this now, after having taken the ArtRX class, she said, “I think so. It has been giving the motivation to just get up and do things, even when it’s not related to the class.” 

She added, “I think we can all be artists and consume art. It feeds my soul."