Collin Whitlock is an educator, storyteller, musician, and community arts facilitator who believes that the strongest bonds in our community are built in spaces where people share stories, recognize themselves in each other’s experiences, and practice the kind of vulnerability that encourages healing and growth. Through recorded interviews, short documentary films, and facilitated storytelling events, Collin spotlights the voices and experiences of participants, artists, and program leaders involved in UF Health Arts in Medicine’s community outreach programs, helping to share the impact of their work with the broader community.
A University of Florida graduate, Collin has spent more than twenty years as an educator and mentor while building a parallel life as a professional musician and community artist. Over the years, those two lives merged as Collin discovered that connecting his life as an artist to his work as an educator—and his life as an educator to his art—allowed him to become a more complete version of himself. That convergence is the foundation for some of Collin’s most meaningful work. He is the creator and host of Show & Tell, a storytelling community built around sharing experiences, ideas, questions, and art. His podcast, Here For The Moment, explores the people and stories of Gainesville and how the meaning of those experiences can reach far beyond our city limits. Collin is also a documentary filmmaker and recently wrote and directed The Alachua County Crisis Center: Doing What Needs To Be Done, a film chronicling the people, history, and community behind one of Gainesville’s long-standing institutions of care. Across these different forms, Collin is drawn to the same fundamental work: creating safe spaces where people can express themselves, share their stories, and support one another.
Why Arts in Medicine?
Central to Collin’s work is the belief that storytelling is itself a healing art–that in telling our stories, being heard, and bearing witness to the experiences of others, we find connection in our communities and meaning in our lives.