Partnership in Rhythm
The idea for bringing Well-Being Concerts to Lehigh can be traced back to Zoellner’s focus on fostering community following the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson said.
“In 2021, we started talking with the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) about the importance of bringing the community back together through the arts,” he said.
This led to Zoellner’s partnership with LVHN, which began in 2022 with the launch of the Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital Family Series. The shows, which range from musicals to plays to concerts, encourage families to visit Zoellner and enjoy the arts.
The team also spoke with behavioral scientist and consultant Tasha Golden, whose “Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities” helped inspire Zoellner’s approach to wellness and the arts. “Arts on Prescription” offers a roadmap for communities to develop programs that formally integrate arts, culture and nature resources into local health and social care systems, according to the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. The programs allow health care providers and social service agencies to “prescribe” arts activities to support their patients’ or clients’ health, well-being and quality of life.
Influenced by Golden’s approach, Zoellner enhanced the Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital Family Series by adding pre-show conversations with LVHN doctors and offering fresh, healthy foods to families before the shows. They also focused on innovating with the implementation of the Well-Being Concerts.
After participating in a Well-Being Concert at Carnegie Hall as part of a conference, Wilson said he was inspired to bring the concerts to Zoellner and worked with Carnegie Hall to establish a partnership. As part of the partnership, the Zoellner team has the opportunity to attend Carnegie Hall trainings and share their insights from hosting the concerts.
Generous support from alumni like W. Beall Fowler ’59 P’85 P’89 GP’16, Barbara and Harvey L. York ’67 P’94 P’98 and Marcie and Glenn M. Yarnis ’80 was essential in helping the Well-Being Concerts take shape, Wilson said.
“It was these alumni who said, ‘This is great for both Lehigh students and also for the community,’” Wilson said.
Wilson said partnerships like the Well-Being Concerts are essential to Zoellner’s work and its efforts to support the community.
“I love partnerships,” Wilson said. “Zoellner Arts Center is part of Lehigh University, and Lehigh is our backbone. So whenever we are able to be a backbone for other nonprofits, that is an opportunity for us to really help the community. And so that is one of the things that we just pride ourselves in.”
