World Mental Health Day

Dear UNCSA Community,

Tomorrow, Oct. 10, is World Mental Health Day, an internationally observed day for mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. At UNCSA, it’s an opportunity for all of us to Take 5ive to check in with ourselves and one another, and to reflect on how we care for our well-being as artists, colleagues and members of this community.

As an artist, I understand the intensity that can come with pursuing a life in the arts. Whether you’re a student artist honing your craft, a faculty member balancing a professional career with training the next generation, or a staff member providing the support to make this work possible, the pursuit of artistic excellence asks a great deal of us. That intensity can take a toll.

World Mental Health Day is an important reminder that our well-being should never be treated as secondary to artistic achievement. And while the pressures surrounding training and a career in the arts can weigh heavily, the arts themselves can also be a powerful source of healing, inspiration and connection.

Last year, I had the opportunity to speak with dancer and choreographer Christina Soriano and neuroscientist Christina Hugenschmidt about what happens in our brains when we engage with the arts. Their work together explores how dance can affect cognition and brain health, and Hugenschmidt put it simply: “Can the arts change the brain? The answer is definitely yes.”

One idea from that conversation has stayed with me. Hugenschmidt described the brain as a kind of never-ending symphony, with different regions constantly turning up and down. She explained that studies of improvisation have found that some regions associated with deliberate thinking and problem-solving become less active as we create in the moment. Or, as Soriano put it, “the gifts of improvisation include the capacity to not judge your choices in the moment.”

For anyone who has spent hours working toward artistic excellence, there is something powerful in that idea: Creativity does not always have to begin with getting something “right.”

And it’s not only creating art that can affect us so profoundly. In 2025, UNCSA and the Kenan Institute for the Arts partnered with SocialRx (formerly Art Pharmacy), a social prescribing program built around a compelling idea: Sometimes supporting our health can mean prescribing experiences in our communities, including art, music, movement and nature. Across its programs, SocialRx reports that 80% of members who began with poor mental health experienced improvement.

This is part of the power of the arts: the ability to connect, to inspire and even to heal. But none of us should expect art alone to carry the weight of our mental health; caring for ourselves also means knowing when to reach out for support. At UNCSA, several resources are available:

• Students have free, 24/7 access to mental health support through Uwill, including teletherapy and crisis support, as well as on-campus counseling services.

• Faculty and staff have access to the university-sponsored Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which provides confidential support and resources for work and personal concerns at no cost to employees and members of their households.

We have made meaningful progress in how we talk about and support mental health, both at UNCSA and across the arts. We also know there is more work ahead. As an institution preparing the next generation of artists, we have an opportunity to help shape an arts culture where well-being and artistic excellence are not competing priorities, but are understood as essential to one another.

So this World Mental Health Day, I encourage you to put your own well-being at the center of your craft; to make room for imagination, collaboration and community alongside grit; and to reach out when you need support. No matter what you’re facing, you don’t have to face it alone.

Sincerely,

Brian Cole

Chancellor