A Triple Insider's Take on Arts Therapy, Arts-based Community Development, and Huntington's Disease

Authors

  • Brian Schrag SIL International (Dallas); Center for Excellence in World Arts (Dallas); Huntington's Disease Society of America

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v15i3.822

Keywords:

Huntington's Disease, applied, expressive arts, artistic biography

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on my experiences as someone with Huntington's Disease who works professionally as a development ethnomusicologist, and who creates musical, video, and graphic arts for healing in communities I know. People struggling with disease and trauma benefit enormously by identifying their needs and goals, finding and valuing their artistic resources, and sparking creativity from within their and their social networks' artistry that addresses those needs. Therapists and others can contribute to these processes best by using methods that include eliciting artistic biographies, sparking community creativity, and becoming multiartistic activists. 

Author Biography

Brian Schrag, SIL International (Dallas); Center for Excellence in World Arts (Dallas); Huntington's Disease Society of America

Brian Schrag is SIL International's Ethnomusicology and Arts Coordinator, and founder of the Center for Excellence in World Arts (Dallas), a graduate program in applied ethnoarts. He has been involved in arts-based community development in DR Congo and Cameroon, and holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology (UCLA). Brian actively promotes artistic creativity for healing and education in communities affected by Huntington's Disease (HD). Brian has HD.   

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Published

2015-11-09

How to Cite

Schrag, B. (2015). A Triple Insider’s Take on Arts Therapy, Arts-based Community Development, and Huntington’s Disease. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v15i3.822