Healing Arts Initiative / HAI

HAI inspires healing, growth and learning through access to the arts for the culturally underserved. Invest in our work at npo.justgive.org/hai

Mission Statement

Healing Arts Initiative (HAI) exists to remove barriers to arts and culture, and inspires healing, growth, and learning through engagement with the arts. Goals, Programs, and Structure

HAI is steadfast in our mission of making the arts accessible to all New Yorkers, especially individuals who are isolated and marginalized due to institutionalization, hospitalization, disability

and illness, as well as at-risk youth in low-income neighborhoods – audiences most in need of the healing role of the arts. Since our organization’s inception, HAI has presented thousands of performances and programs, reaching millions of people. Each year, HAI touches the lives of more than 350,000 underserved individuals, offering an array of arts, education and wellness programs. These include: live performing arts at senior centers, nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools and other social and healthcare facilities; free and low-cost tickets to cultural events; participatory arts workshops to foster creative expression, academic improvement and community engagement for elementary, middle and high schools (including special needs students); audio description services for blind and visually impaired theater patrons; presentation of original music and dance at mid-to-large scale venues in NYC communities; an in-house art studio and gallery program that provides a safe space for artists living with mental health challenges to practice their craft; and group transport on specially designed buses accommodating large numbers of disabled and elderly passengers. HAI’s organizational structure is comprised of four departments: Access, Education, Marketing/Outreach, and Accounting. Coordination and oversight of HAI’s programs is accomplished by our dedicated team of staffers, comprised of 16 full time and 24 part time members. History and Key Achievements

Healing Arts Initiative was established in 1969 as Hospital Audiences, Inc. with the primary objective of providing access to live performance for institutionalized individuals in New York City. To this end, we began by supplying concerts and performances to patients residing in psychiatric facilities. These services proved their effectiveness, almost immediately, as participants who had previously exhibited a wide range of behavioral issues began to display elevated moods and improved conduct. Over the last 45 years, HAI has grown exponentially in the scope of its audience and reach. Soon after our initial foray into the state psychiatric facilities, HAI quickly expanded its services to other marginalized and isolated populations throughout NYC. The 1970’s, which brought about even more social awareness of the therapeutic effects of artistic performance, fueled HAI’s service expansion into correctional facilities, nursing homes and hospitals. In similar fashion, the AIDS epidemic of the 1980’s again brought HAI’s services to new audiences in need. During this time, HAI also launched our Education Department, which utilizes theater techniques such as role play to address prevalent issues affecting inner city youth. Moreover, amplified recognition of the beneficial effects of art on the developmentally disabled resulted in creative workshops and performances with the interests of special needs audiences in mind. In the 1990s, HAI increased outreach to the homeless population of NYC, bringing dramatic performance to hundreds of area shelters and broadening our impact on the city’s most underserved. Efforts to bring the arts to the physically disabled were also expanded, with the introduction of Describe!, live audio description of theatrical performances for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, and the launch of HAI’s fleet of buses, specially retrofitted to accommodate numerous wheelchairs. Additionally, HAI launched our Community Performing Arts Series events, making high-quality performance affordable and accessible to audiences ill at ease in traditional theater settings. Today, HAI is a multifaceted arts agency dedicated to enriching the lives of culturally underserved New Yorkers through engagement with art. Although HAI has grown, the mission has remained the same; we are still dedicated to the central premise that access to art and culture brings about profound healing to those who need it most.

05/09/2016

HAI's original African drumming musical MUMBO JUMBO is being performed this morning at the Jerry Orbach Theater in Times Square. Check out this clip from the show!

05/06/2016

Check out the amazingly talented cast of CYBER during their talkback with the audience after today's performance!

For information on how to book a performance at your school, visit our website at www.hainyc.org.

05/05/2016

This weekend, HAI lost one of our dearest friends. Dr. Josephine Defini, a patron for our Describe! program for blind and visually-impaired theatre-goers, passed away Saturday morning. Josephine was a longtime champion of HAI and one of our most beloved patrons, attending dozens of Describe! performances, supporting HAI through donations, and evangelizing on behalf of our programs and work. In fact, she is the “face” of Describe! and her picture has been used to market the program on our website for many years. Josephine and her beloved service dog Zion were matched in 2009 and had the distinction of being the 15,000th team matched at the Seeing Eye. Josephine worked for the New York Lighthouse until her retirement, and at the time of her passing was serving as President of the American Council of the Blind of New York, Inc. There is a Josephine-sized void in the HAI family today, and our thoughts and well-wishes are with her family and friends.

A memorial party will be held for Josephine on Saturday, May 14th from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at Selis Manor, 135 W. 23rd Street in Manhattan.

05/05/2016

This week here at HAI we have been going through our archives dating back to 1969. Every day we find something to smile about, like this picture from one of our very first workshops in the early 70s. We'll be sure to share more moments of our history in the days and weeks to come.

HAI Produced Shows - Healing Arts Initiative

05/04/2016

CYBER performances begin tomorrow! HAI's newest original production about the effects of bullying is about to have it's world premiere, and we couldn't be more excited about it.

Visit our website at the link below for more information about CYBER and how to book a performance for your school.

HAI Produced Shows - Healing Arts Initiative HAI-Produced Shows CYBER – Curb Youth Bully Expect Respect – is HAI’s newest original show! Layla is a new student at school and becomes the victim of bullying. What should she… read more →

05/02/2016

Performances of HAI's new original show for schools, CYBER, begin this Thursday!

CYBER - an anagram for Curb Youth Bullying Expect Respect - uses theater, spoken work, and music to address bullying, racism, homelessness, inclusion, leadership, and friendship. CYBER engages and empowers the student audience to problem solve and be a part of the solution.

To book a show either at your school or at theThe Theater Center, please contact HAI at 212.575.7665 or e-mail [email protected]

04/29/2016

Today at HAI, we will be presenting one community event, 12 on-site performances, and 25 arts workshops across Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Happy Friday!

HAI's Stop Motion Animation Workshop - Edward's Story

04/25/2016

Here is another stop-motion animation video produced as part of Howard Better's workshop at Blythedale Children's Hospital. Congratulations to all students involved in the creation of these wonderful pieces of art!

HAI's Stop Motion Animation Workshop - Edward's Story HAI teaching artist Howard Better runs a workshop at Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla, NY, for children living with traumatic brain injuries. The w...

Jennifer Hudson and "The Color Purple" Cast Honor Prince With Epic Performance of "Purple Rain"

04/25/2016

Two of the schools with which HAI works were in the audience at Friday evening's performance of on and were witness to Jennifer Hudson's rousing tribute to the late great . Since the students had such an amazing time, we though we'd share the performance with you.

Jennifer Hudson and "The Color Purple" Cast Honor Prince With Epic Performance of "Purple Rain"

HAI's Stop Motion Animation Workshop - Kyle's Story

04/21/2016

HAI teaching artist Howard Better runs a workshop at Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla, NY, teaching children how to do stop motion animation, and recently their final films were presented in a culminating event. Here is just one of the several films that were created in that workshop.

HAI's Stop Motion Animation Workshop - Kyle's Story HAI teaching artist Howard Better runs a workshop at Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla, NY, for children living with traumatic brain injuries. The w...

04/21/2016

Found in the archives just in time for , here's a great shot of jazz icon Dee Dee Bridgewater performing at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in the early years of HAI.

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Location

New York

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Telephone

+12122844100

Website

https://npo.justgive.org/hai

Address

3302 Skillman Avenue Fl 1
New York, NY
11101

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm