Festival of the Creative Arts<\/a>, a monthlong celebration of the\u00a0voices, talents and creativity of FSU faculty and students.<\/p>\n\u201cBy bringing together researchers from different disciplines, the symposium creates opportunities to collaborate and expand research across campus,\u201d said Professor Iain Quinn, research fellow in the Arts and Humanities and director of the Festival of the Creative Arts. \u201cThe inherently interdisciplinary nature of the event allows us to benefit from the knowledge of other fields and strengthen our own work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in its sixth iteration, the symposium featured faculty and student researchers from medicine, music therapy, interior design, ethnomusicology, art therapy and the humanities. Presentations, experiential performances and poster sessions highlighted emerging scholarship in arts-based health research and its applications across the lifespan.<\/p>\n
For Daejin Kim, associate professor in the College of Fine Arts, principles of architectural and interior design play a critical role in shaping environments that support both physical safety and psychological well-being. Kim\u2019s research focuses on how interior design strategies can help older adults age in place while maintaining independence.<\/p>\n
His presentation emphasized how thoughtful design choices, including lighting, spatial layout and material selection, can reduce fall risk while preserving autonomy and dignity. Rather than relying solely on clinical safety standards, Kim stressed the importance of centering the lived experiences of older adults in design decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cDesign has the power to support both safety and autonomy,\u201d Kim said. \u201cWhen we consider the lived experience of older adults, we can create environments that promote independence without sacrificing dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several presentations explored the role of the arts in medical education and healthcare practice. Tana Jean Welch, associate professor at the College of Medicine, discussed \u201cHEAL: Humanism Evolving through Arts and Literature,\u201d a creative arts journal published by the FSU College of Medicine. Welch highlighted the journal\u2019s history and its role in fostering reflection, empathy and humanism in medical training.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Lullabies.jpg\")
Doctoral student Adriana Lizardi-V\u00e1zquez presents research on lullabies used by caregivers in Puerto Rico. (Casey McCarthy\/Florida State University)<\/p>\n
Music therapy research featured prominently throughout the symposium, with presentations spanning infancy through adolescence. Adriana Lizardi-V\u00e1zquez, a doctoral student in music therapy, opened her presentation by singing a lullaby commonly used by caregivers in Puerto Rico. Drawing from a study of caregivers with infants ranging from newborns to 18 months old, Lizardi-V\u00e1zquez documented more than 180 distinct lullabies and identified shared musical characteristics such as simple melodies, slow tempo and repetition.<\/p>\n
Her findings highlight how familiar music supports bonding, language development and emotional regulation.<\/p>\n
Other research explored adolescents\u2019 use of music as a coping strategy. Doctoral students Parintorn \u201cPim\u201d Pankaew and Shun Ee \u201cRacheal\u201d Yap presented findings from a statewide survey of Florida adolescents, revealing widespread use of music for stress management, emotional expression and relaxation. Their work explores how these patterns can inform music therapy\u2013informed wellness and mental health interventions.<\/p>\n
James E. Riley addressed professional development in music therapy, sharing preliminary findings on entrepreneurship in the field. While nearly 90% of surveyed music therapy students expressed interest in entrepreneurial work, a similar percentage reported receiving little to no formal guidance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a disconnect between how students are trained and the professional realities they will face,\u201d Riley said. \u201cFuture music therapists must develop professional and entrepreneurial skills alongside clinical training to navigate today\u2019s healthcare and wellness industries.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an experiential session, Michael Bakan, professor of ethnomusicology, led participants in a group vocal performance inspired by the gamelan suara, or \u201cvocal gamelan,\u201d of Bali, Indonesia, demonstrating how collective music-making can foster social cohesion, wellness and joy.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Presenters.jpg\")
Doctoral students Parintorn \u201cPim\u201d Pankaew and Shun Ee \u201cRacheal\u201d Yap present this research. (Casey McCarthy\/Florida State University)<\/p>\n
Poster presentations further highlighted student and faculty research at the intersection of the arts and health, with topics including art therapy assessments for PTSD, community music therapy initiatives, and the art-informed study of the experiences of athletes with disabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn times of shared challenge, the arts remind us that connection is essential,\u201d Bakan said. \u201cThey help us build community, process experience and support one another in ways that are fundamental to human health.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Festival of the Creative Arts continues Monday, Feb. 16, with a screening of \u201cNickel Boys,\u201d a film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, from 6-9 p.m. at the Askew Student Life Center on FSU\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n
Visit the Festival of the Creative Arts website<\/a> for a full schedule of programming.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BAKAN-MAIN-FOCUS-512x341.jpg\")
Professor Michael Bakan leads an experiential vocal performance inspired by the Balinese gamelan suara. (Casey McCarthy\/Florida State University)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Master\u2019s student Angelina Ciardi shares her research exploring the arts and athletes with disabilities at the Arts-Health-Humanities Symposium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[56744,71202,58513,57787,58515,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-157771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-college-of-fine-arts","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-college-of-music","tag-faculty","tag-festival-of-the-creative-arts","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Poster.jpg\")
Master\u2019s student Angelina Ciardi shares her research exploring the arts and athletes with disabilities at the Arts-Health-Humanities Symposium VI. (Casey McCarthy\/Florida State University)\t\t<\/p>\n