About

The Arts-in-Health Innovation Lab at the University of Utah is a catalyst of interdisciplinary research, teaching, clinical care, and community engagement at the intersection of the arts and health [1]. Our members study how the arts support and produce well-being, and put that knowledge to work in hospitals, clinics, community centers, schools, workplaces, and senior care facilities.

[1] We define “health” not just as the absence of disease, but as complete physical, mental, and social well-being.

Becky Zarate, PhD

Director, Arts & Health Innovation Lab
Associate Dean for Research, College of Fine Arts
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Zarate is a music psychotherapist, musician, researcher, and educator of music therapy, arts therapies, and arts and health. Her research focuses on community mental health and sustainability, health, wellbeing, and the arts. A licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Board Certified Music Therapist, and certified Vocal Psychotherapist, she has a specific area of expertise in mental health, anxiety, and improvisation-based music therapy.

She is the author of the book, “Music psychotherapy and anxiety: Social, community, and clinical contexts,” published by Jessica Kingsley, where she illuminates the various dimensions of anxiety, and the inquiry of music and arts, and the global social issues of the rising impact of anxiety and stress.

Samantha Briggs

Arts & Health Faculty Fellow
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Samantha Briggs is an Assistant Professor and Theatre Teaching Area Head in the Department of Theatre, and currently serves as the College of Fine Arts’ Inaugural Arts & Health Faculty Fellow. She is passionate about the ways theatre and drama can support wellbeing, spark dialogue, and strengthen communities. Her current research project brings together young people to use theatrical devising as a way to explore mental health and engage communities in civic dialogue and collective problem-solving, highlighting the arts as a powerful space for reflection, community building, and collective action.

Sydney Porter Williams

Research Assistant
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Sydney Porter Williams is a Research Assistant with the Arts & Health Innovation Lab and the Artist in Residence at the Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital’s Center for Quality of Life after Stroke, where she designs and facilitates arts programs that investigate how creative engagement supports the quality of life of stroke survivors. Porter Williams holds a Master of Fine Arts in Community-Based Art Education and an Honors BFA in Art Teaching, both from the University of Utah. Porter Williams’ pedagogical and research practice is interwoven with her multi-disciplinary studio practice, where she offers interactive opportunities for vulnerability and connection through unraveling and exploring her history. Her scholarly interests include art for social transformation and artmaking as a dialogical and therapeutic practice.

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Lauren Adja Tian, DMA

Lab Administrator
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Lauren Adja Tian is the Lab Administrator for the University of Utah’s Arts and Health Innovation Lab, and is the Music Director of the Utah Medical Orchestra, a symphony orchestra comprised of health care professionals from across the Salt Lake Valley. She holds a DMA from the University of Utah in orchestral conducting and also has worked in hospitals as a medical assistant and administrator. Lauren has an ongoing interest in art music’s growing intersection with healthcare.

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Sylvita Patton

Intern and Research Assistant
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I am an intern and a research assistant for the Arts and Health Innovation lab at the University of Utah. I hold a bachelor's degree in Film and Media Arts from the University of Utah, as well as certifications in Nursing Assisting and Medical Assisting.  I enjoy being part of the innovation lab because it is the best of both worlds for health science and the arts. 

Areas of Focus

 

 

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