About Reach Out Arts

“The deeper need is not to get love, but to give it. For Altruism is health, True Health. And the Arts can be a wonderful vehicle for Altruism.” – John Diamond, MD, Veneration for Life, 2000

Reach Out Arts, Hudson Valley, New York was developed as the public arm of the Life Energy Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization founded to promote wellbeing and the helping of others through the arts. While we officially incorporated in 2003, our programs have run continuously since 1992, first in the UK, then Australia (1994) and the US (1997).

Our approach is based on the work of John Diamond, MD – one of the world’s foremost holistic healers, a clinician, a university lecturer, and the bestselling author, in multiple languages, of over 30 books, – and related programs benefit thousands of people of all ages, abilities, and skill levels each year.

Programs are currently active in Canberra, Australia through the Music Engagement Program at the Australian National University (musicengagementprogram.org), in New York City through the Education Program at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, and the Institute for Music and Health in the Hudson Valley, New York (musichealth.net).

Mission

Reach Out Arts teaches people to use their creativity to help others and strengthen their communities through educational and outreach programs.

Vision

Reach Out Arts envisions a world where the arts lead us to rediscover our humanity, meaningfully communicate with one another, and embrace the immeasurable value of helping those in need.

Philosophy

We believe the arts are the cure for one of the great ailments of our time – disconnection.

We created Reach Out Arts to show the world that art makes connections between people, and when it does, the result is wellbeing for everyone involved.

Outreach forms the core of our approach, so best to start there. Outreach is not an activity. Outreach is an intention, the intention to use our creativity to benefit others.

Consider the following scenarios:

1. A skilled and talented pianist plays her latest virtuoso piece at blinding speed, but her intention is to show us her skill. Her playing is inward and she makes no connection with people in the room.
2. A skilled – or even not as skilled – person sits at the piano and plays to people in the room. She wants to improve their day, communicate with them, tell them the story of what she is playing. She’s not looking to impress. She’s looking for a creative conversation.

While we might all be initially impressed by player A, player B has made our day a little better and more engaged, even if she’s isn’t showing the same level of technical mastery.

That’s outreach. It’s about sharing, connection, and our humanity.

We could point out that our approach is founded upon years of research in the worlds of academia, medicine, psychiatry and proof, but the bottom line is, when you engage in the arts to make someone else feel better in the world, we all feel better.