ArtStart, city to host free ‘Push Against Loneliness’ Community Day

ArtStart, the City of Rhinelander, and local youth and community health organizations have partnered to organize a community-focused event to be held at Hodag Park on July 26.

The event will kick off with a Skate Jam celebrating the proposed location for Rhinelander’s new skate park. Attendees can also walk from the Hodag Park bandshell to the Beach House as part of the day’s “March Against Social Isolation.” 

ArtStart’s Community and Cultural Development Director Melinda Childs and artists Witt Siasoco and Norma Dycus Pennycuff, will discuss the interactive sound sculpture entitled “Together” that was built in conjunction with this event.

The sculpture, installed at the Beach House, will be dedicated during the  event. 

According to a presentation made by Ashley McLaughlin of ArtStart to the City Council back in April, the idea was to place a series of mirrored poetic signs along the pathway to the shelter where the sculpture will be located.

“Anyone who sits on the bench will hear a recording of community members talking about social isolation,” McLaughlin said, explaining that this will be accomplished by placing a sound induction unit inside the bench.

The sculpture project is related to the community’s participation in One Nation One Project, a national arts and health initiative between artists, local governments, and community health providers designed to “activate the power of the arts” to heal communities.

“The celebration is part of a larger national campaign called Arts for EveryBody,” according to an ArtStart press release. “Across the country, on this day in 17 other big cities and rural counties, thousands will gather for large-scale participatory art projects to spotlight that arts participation, in all its brilliant forms, is good for the health of individuals and communities. For example, older adults who participate in the arts report a 48% lower risk of depression and a 44% reduction in dementia; the health benefits of arts participation are also equivalent to the benefits of weekly exercise. Participating in the arts reduces stress and loneliness, which are risk factors for a wide range of ailments, including hypertension and heart disease.”

To learn more, visit https://www.artsforeverybody.org/.