Cassandra Belden, MA, is the Evaluation and Research Specialist at UF Health Shands, Arts in Medicine. She contributes to global arts in health research through initiatives led by the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine, including One Nation One Project and the Interdisciplinary Research Lab. An alumna of UF, Cassandra also serves as an adjunct lecturer in the Master’s degree program in Arts in Medicine. Driven by her passion for community, she leverages the arts to amplify connection and voices, fostering cross-sector collaboration to advocate for the integration of the arts into spaces of healing and care.
Cassandra’s roots as a trained artist guided her interest to the field of arts in health. Whether it be paint, clay, singing or camera in hand, Cassandra’s heart lies in creation and encouraging others to do the same. Since 2016, she has served as a visual arts facilitator at museums, community centers, and schools along the East Coast, working with individuals of all ages.
Why Arts in Medicine?
“The arts help us understand and depict our deepest ways of knowing. Creation and connection are palpable to the human experience and Arts in Medicine serves as a foundation to guide people closer to themselves and others. In the ever-evolving world in which we are placed, the arts serve as a true north to humanizing our reality, environment and relationship to each other. So, why Arts in Medicine? Because I have countlessly witnessed the ways in which the arts impact the human spirit, including my own.”