Community Programs & Initiatives
Launched officially in May 2025, Art Pharmacy: Pioneering Public Health Through the Arts
As Director of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy for the Town of Franklin, I am proud to have helped lead a groundbreaking initiative positioning Franklin as the first municipality in the United States to utilize opioid settlement funds in support of an arts-based public health intervention: the Art Pharmacy program.
This innovative collaboration reimagines how the arts can play an active role in healing, recovery, and community connection. Through the Art Pharmacy, artists are engaged as frontline contributors to mental health and wellness by designing programs that address trauma, social isolation, and substance use disorder through creative expression. The integration of these funds into a municipal arts initiative is a first-of-its-kind model that reflects Franklin’s bold commitment to cultural leadership, social impact, and whole-community care.
”The Town of Franklin recently became the first municipality in the United States to invest in a new, innovative tool to combat the ongoing impacts of the opioid crisis: Arts Prescriptions, the practice of referring patients to creative experiences such as music, visual arts, dance, and theater.
Funded through the Town’s opioid settlement funds, their Arts Prescriptions initiative is designed to support substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery efforts within the community.” Read more of the Massachusetts Cultural Council article here.
General Press
Town of Franklin, LinkedIn, “Meet Our New…”
Franklin Observer, Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
Boston University, Art Administration Profile
Franklin Matters | Talking Arts Culture & Economic Development on ‘Talk Franklin.’ This session of the radio show shares our “Talk Franklin” discussion with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen in the 3rd floor Training Room on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
Department of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, YOUTUBE Channel
“Franklin Sculpture Park Call for Artists” Franklin Matters
Town Council Meeting, April 2024 [linked below] Featuring: Arts & Culture Subcommittee of the Town Council as they released their final report on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Chair Cobi Frongillo, members Melanie Hamblen and Ted Cormier-Leger.
FranklinMA250, Local Town Pages, Franklin