Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
Friday 19th June 2026, 9:00 - 16:30 Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
Healing Arts Scotland Glasgow Day is a bold, energising day for anyone working at the intersection of health and creativity, whether you come from healthcare, the arts, or anywhere in between.
Part of the 2026 Healing Arts Scotland Week, Healing Arts Scotland Glasgow Day is a bold, energising event created to inspire and inform anyone working at the intersection of health and creativity, whether you come from health and social care, the arts, or anywhere in between. Join fellow links workers, healthcare professionals, creative industry practitioners and leaders across our field from the UK and internationally for a day packed with inspiration, connection and performances.
Hear from leading speakers including:
Dive into panel discussions and challenge sessions rooted in the core themes of Healing Arts Scotland. Be moved by live performances. And take time to network and build relationships with people who share your passion for the transformative power of the arts.
We are thrilled to announce that freelance bursaries are available for artists who want to be part of something truly transformative. Healing Arts Scotland 2026 is bringing together creative practitioners, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to embed the arts at the heart of public health and community life across Scotland — and we want you in the room.
Whether you work in visual art, performance, music, writing, or any other discipline, this is your opportunity to join a growing movement that believes in the power of creativity to reshape how we think about wellbeing, care, and community. If you're passionate about bridging arts and healthcare and ready to help shape this conversation, we'd love to hear from you. Email daisy.mayhew@eoa.art to secure your ticket
Please note you will be asked to complete a short registration form as part of your booking. The link to this will be visible just before you check out. Tickets for this event are exempt from the below transaction and restoration fund fees.
Jill Sonke, PhD, is a US Cultural Policy Fellow with Stanford University, Co-director of the EpiArts Lab, a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab in partnership with University College London, and Director of Research Initiatives and a Research Professor in the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida (UF). She is an artist, cultural strategist and mixed-methods researcher, and is the recipient of over 350 grants and awards for her programs and research at the intersection of the arts and health.
Yazmany Arboleda is a Colombian-American artist, architect, and civic designer whose work treats art as a collective action—something people do together to shape belonging, dignity, and public life. He is New York City’s inaugural People’s Artist at the Civic Engagement Commission and Founder and Artistic Director of The People’s Creative Institute, a civic art studio that transforms everyday public spaces into sites of storytelling, healing, and democratic participation. He also serves as Senior Artistic Advisor for the Community Arts Network and teaches futures-oriented design at Cornell University.
Manira’s leadership portfolio includes: Climate Change & Sustainability, Long COVID, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, International Connections and our ambition in supporting whole system action through cross-sector collaborations. Manira’s background includes systems leadership across local, regional and national arenas, supporting multi-agency collaborative decision making to improve health and well-being of communities. Manira has had a varied career history spanning both private and public sectors.
Guillem d’Efak Fullana Ferré is Head of Community Action, Public Programmes and Communications at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and Associate Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). He holds degrees in Humanities, History, Archaeology and Arts Administration from Boston University. He has held leadership roles at RBA Audiovisual, the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency, the Catalan Department of Health and the Institut Català de la Salut. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Bronx Museum of the Arts.
Katie Duffy is Head of Arts and Music at Glasgow Life, the charity that inspirespeople to become engaged and active in a city globally renowned for culture andsport. In her role, Katie has responsibility for Glasgow’s world class Arts and Musicvenues Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Old Fruitmarket and City Halls, and Tramway;internationally significant cultural festivals delivered by Glasgow Life including CelticConnections; and strategic, citywide creative initiatives that place communities in theheart of Glasgow’s celebrated cultural ecology. Glasgow Life is the city’s policy leadfor culture and Katie leads the development and delivery of Glasgow’s CultureStrategy 2024 – 2030, and is focal point for Glasgow UNESCO City of Music in aglobal network of more than 300 cities. A violinist, Katie is a proud graduate of theUniversity of Glasgow with an MMus in Musicology and performs with many ofGlasgow’s amateur orchestras.
Nils Fietje is a Technical Officer within the Behavioural and Cultural Insights (BCI) Unit at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. He has a background in English literature and the cultural history of medicine. As part of the BCI Unit, he is leading efforts to understand how cultural contexts affect and interact with health and wellbeing across the lifespan and throughout the continuum of care. Nils’ work includes a particular focus on the nexus of arts and health, having coordinated the first-ever WHO report on the evidence base for arts and health interventions. As part of this work, Nils focuses on supporting the Lab’s policy development and research implementation.
Sonia Sabri is a multi-award-winning dance artist and choreographer. She is one of the world’s leading Kathak dancers, amongst the brightest and most inspirational of British born dancer-choreographers working in the twenty-first century. Recent Awards and Nominations include: The Bench Fellowship 2016, The National Indian Arts Award for Distinguished Teacher of Dance in 2017, The National Diversity Awards 2018. ACTA awards for Dance 2016 and 2019. Birmingham Inspiration Awards & The Best Female Dancer. Sonia Sabri is the Artistic Director of award-winning dance and music company Sonia Sabri Company. Sonia Sabri Company is an Associate organisation at Birmingham Hippodrome and won The Prestige Awards 2019 for the best dance company. Sonia is a member of the Board of DanceXchange Birmingham and is one of 16 Resident Creatives who will play a key role in shaping the future of the CURVE theatre, Leicester.
Dr. Nisha Sajnani is Professor of Creative Arts Therapies at New York University and founding co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, established in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Bridging research, practice, and policy on the health value of the arts across the life course, she leads an international research network, co-leads a landmark Lancet collection on arts and health, and advances WHO policy, including a recent brief on the role of the arts in addressing the health impacts of climate change. She is also on faculty with the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, where she leads on the role of the arts in humanitarian care.
Gregor was appointed Chief Medical Officer for Scotland in December 2020. Gregor is a GP and former medical director for primary care in NHS Lanarkshire. He began working for the Scottish Government as a medical adviser in primary care in 2012 as part of the negotiating team for the Scottish GP contract, subsequently leading the development of a new quality framework for general practice in Scotland. He was appointed Deputy Chief Medical Officer in 2015, interim Chief Medical Officer in April 2020, and Chief Medical Officer in December 2020. He is the principal medical adviser to Scottish ministers and leads on a broad range of professional activity, where he is a passionate advocate of person-centred approaches to care and widening participation in medical careers.
Stephen Stapleton is a British-Norwegian social entrepreneur known for leading organizations and developing platforms for cultural production, education, and diplomacy across international borders. Following a year-long artist road trip across the Middle East in 2002-3, Stephen founded Edge of Arabia and the UK charity Crossway Foundation, platforms for creative collaboration between the Middle East and the West. In 2020, Stephen established the Healing Arts initiative, in collaboration with Christopher Bailey at WHO, as a rapid response to COVID-19 and its impact on mental health. Three years later Stephen co-founded the Lab, with colleagues from WHO, New York University, and Community Jameel.
Larissa W. Trinder serves as Assistant Vice President for Arts in Medicine at New York City Health + Hospitals, where she leads one of the most ambitious arts-in-healthcare initiatives in the country. She oversees the stewardship, exhibition strategy, conservation, maintenance, acquisition, and curation of the health system’s collection of more than 7,500 works of art—the largest non-museum collection in New York City—with many pieces dating back to the 1930s. Installed throughout the system’s facilities, the collection advances evidence-based design principles that support patient experience, enhance trust, and improve workplace environments for staff.
Dr Justin Varney-Bennett is a senior public health physician with over 15 years of experience across local, regional, national, and international public health systems. Originally trained in general practice, he moved into public health medicine before holding national roles at Public Health England, including National Lead for Adult Health and Wellbeing. He served as Director of Public Health at Birmingham City Council from 2019, leading the city's pandemic response for 1.2 million citizens. He now serves as Regional Director of Public Health for the South West, spanning the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. He chairs the Faculty of Public Health's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Special Interest Group.
As Chief Executive of Glasgow Life, Kay leads the organisation’s work to bring culture, events and active living to people and communities across Glasgow. An accomplished leader, she brings strategic vision, strong partnership-building skills and more than 20 years’ experience in Scotland’s culture and leisure sector. Kay is also a valued member of Glasgow City Council’s Corporate Leadership Team and the Board Director for Scotland for Community Leisure UK (CLUK). Kay joined Glasgow Life in 2025 from her role as Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) having previously held senior leadership roles in culture and leisure across Scotland and building a strong track record of strategic planning and delivery to support communities to thrive.
