Proposals Due :  September 15, 2025, 11:59PM EST. Please apply via this link . Speakers Notified:  January 2026

Background:

The Visual Arts in Healthcare Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital (VAH@BWH) will host an international symposium from September 23-25, 2026: "Bridging Visual Arts & Healthcare: Impact, Innovation, and Research." This symposium aims to build community between the visual arts and medicine through an exchange of methodologies and emerging research among health professionals, art and medical educators, and artists. The central focus of the symposium is to advance learning in a community of providers by effectively utilizing the visual arts to improve skills and effectiveness, teamwork, and patient outcomes in healthcare. The symposium committee welcomes proposals from healthcare professionals, art educators, arts and humanities scholars, and researchers, as well as students and trainees

Goals:

The goals of this symposium are to inspire and disseminate new teaching methods, research, and collaborations focused on improving student, trainee, provider, and patient experiences using the visual arts. We especially encourage perspectives that probe cross-disciplinary intersections or invoke non-traditional theories and methods. 

Please email  artsinhealthcare@bwh.harvard.edu with questions or requests for additional information see our   website . There is no fee to submit a proposal.