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On Thursday, Sept. 10, the Polk Arts and Health Collaborative brought together local leaders and arts advocates, along with about 100 community members, for a conversation exploring “The Infrastructure of Well-Being” and the role that the arts play in the overall health of a community.
In Lakeland, sculptures line Lemon Street and outside the public library, murals adorn the sides of many buildings, and artwork is incorporated into local playgrounds and parks.
“We don’t often think about the way that the mural that we drive by every day makes us feel, or how it affects our day, or even our health. But it’s such a huge part of our community, especially here in Lakeland,” said Tiffany Van Wieren, Arts in Medicine program director at the Watson Clinic Foundation.
The art might appear effortlessly integrated into the landscape of the city, but in reality, it is the result of a concerted effort by local leaders and organizations who understand the value that public art can bring to a community and who see the arts as a critical component of a city’s infrastructure.
“This isn’t a want,” said Mayor Sarah Robers McCarley on Thursday. “This is a need for our quality of life within the community of Lakeland.”
McCarley said while she often thinks of infrastructure, it’s usually underground water, sidewalks, roads, curbing, but she said those components are influenced by art in order to make them more visually appealing. “It is a critical component in how we feel about the place we live and work and play and go to school,” she said.
Moderator Daryl Ward, executive director of The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art, was joined by McCarley, Alice Koehler, president and CEO of Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine, Nate Dunham, vice president of CORE Wealth Advisors, and Pam Page, deputy director of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts with the city.
The event occurred as the Watson Clinic Foundation’s Arts in Medicine Program gears up for this year’s Arts and Health Week from Nov. 8 to 14.
Arts and health
“There is a growing body of evidence that really suggests that arts engagement is really good for not just individual health but for community health as well,” Van Wieren said. “It affects things like civic engagement, community health and safety, even things like accessibility or things like economic vitality.”
“Anytime we invest in the arts, we are really investing in a healthy community,” Van Wieren said.
“The beautiful thing about the arts is it creates conversation,” Koehler said. “It creates a reason to talk to each other. Whether you’re looking at a piece of art on the wall, or you’re listening to the LSO (Lakeland Symphony Orchestra), or you’re watching the theater, it creates conversation.
Social connection underpins the fabric of a community, according to Koehler. “The more we know each other, the healthier we’ll all be.”
Arts as critical infrastructure
Page said her city department has influenced the next generation of leaders with public art from a very young age. “Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts has for the past 25 years included the arts in our playgrounds, in our facilities, in all of our urban spaces,” Page said.
“We have a generation of children that are now our community leaders, and they were exposed to the arts from the time that they could go to a playground and play.”
As a business owner, Dunham said he doesn’t like to think of his business as just a funder or supporter of the arts, but rather a partner. He mentioned that his business regularly partners with the Lakeland Community Theater to not only sponsor a show, but to engage the theater for an additional private performance and invite clients.
“So we’re creating awareness for their organization, and our clients are getting a once-in-a-lifetime experience because anytime you see live theater, live art, no matter how many times they redo it, it’s that one time and that singular experience,” Dunham said.
Ward encouraged local businesses and organizations to reach out to local artists and form mutually beneficial partnerships. He said he is often contacted by businesses looking to hire an artist for a particular project.
For Koehler, the arts play a vital role in an individual’s healthcare journey. “If we think about infrastructure as what makes a system go and function and work, the arts are the piece of healthcare that allows healing, connection, meaning, and trust to build.”
“The arts are what help people through an illness,” Koehler said. “It helps people communicate to their friends, family, doctors, nurses what it is they’re feeling about what they’re encountering with their health. And so I would argue that the arts are not an accessory to healthcare, but they are critical infrastructure.”
McCarley pointed to Lakeland Mayor’s Council on the Arts as a major way that the city encourages local artists. She explained that the highly competitive grant process is in place because leaders see the arts as a part of the fabric of our community. In the 2026–27 fiscal year, Lakeland allocated $375,000 to the Mayor’s Council on the Arts, according to the city’s website.
Page highlighted Lakeland’s Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition, which brings 12 new sculptures accompanied by an audio and walking tour to downtown each year. Page said the city tries to purchase one piece to add to the city’s collection each year.
For Van Wieren, the event is part of a broader conversation about the way that the arts and connection impact the community.
“The premise of the arts as the infrastructure of well-being is that when communities think about health, we should consider the many factors that contribute to it, including connection and belonging, and access to arts and culture and environments where people live,” Van Wieren said.
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