Creativity can positively influence overall well-being and Words, Beats & Life, a hip-hop-based educational nonprofit, highlighted the intersectionality between the arts and mental health through “DMV Made: A Culture & Wellness Festival,” on the National Mall July 27. The festival, simultaneously held during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, emphasized the arts as a means to help youth express themselves and cope with life challenges.
“It feels like we’re in an emergency situation. Our young people are crying out to be heard. And a lot of times, that cry for attention leads to them acting out in certain ways. It leads them to doing things that aren’t conducive to their growth and running into dead end situations,” Patrick Washington, poetry director for Words Beats & Life told the Informer.
Words Beats & Life’s District-wide programs equip youth, practicing artists and scholars with the education and resources they need to facilitate their artistry through after school programs, workshops, concerts, and festivals.
“Our goal is to create spaces for [young people]– opportunities, and hope based on the artistry and talent that they have, [while giving them] constructive ways to express and make a way to provide for themselves.”
Although wellness is most popularly associated with health practices including diet and exercise, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) also emphasized the connection between creative arts and well-being, in a 2023 survey.
“About half (46%) of Americans use creative activities to relieve stress or anxiety, such as playing the piano, crocheting a blanket, dancing with friends or solving crossword puzzles,” according to the APA. “Americans who rate their mental health as very good or excellent tend to engage in creative activities more frequently than those who rate their mental health as fair or poor.”
DMV Made served as a celebration of local artists, culture, health and wellness. The festival and event presented health and wellness activities and education, an interactive family-fun zone, workshops, and multiple performance stages featuring local poets along with some of the District’s most celebrated bands and artists including; Be’la Dona, DuPont Brass, Step Afrika!, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and the Chuck Brown Band.
Titia Haffner, 21, also known by her stage name, “Saint,” is a poet from Prince George’s County who performed spoken word during the event. She said she can attest to the emotional and mental support that writing provides her, finding the duality in creativity, and a catharsis of sorts as she puts her most intimate experiences into poetry.
“I think it’s very important that we have things like this, especially in D.C. A lot of people that I’m associated with, these are the ways that we express ourselves. Whether it be through poetry, through dance, or through song, it’s important that you have a way of expressing yourself,” Haffner shared. “When it comes to mental health, for me, it’s important that I have my poetry going on so that I [can manage] however I’m feeling and continue to press through it.”
Native Washingtonian, community activist, and co-founder of WeAct Radio Kymone Freeman, took part in DMV Made, supporting the organization’s mission to empower local artists through arts and humanities initiatives across the District. Freeman emphasized the importance of feeding residents with positive images, resources, and opportunities to sustain a healthy ecosystem for the community.
“Words, Beats, & Life is a wonderful organization, probably one of the largest nonprofits in the city, who’s doing tremendous work. They put value in our community and our culture, and it’s a direct correlation between health and wellness and arts and culture– you can’t have one without the other,” said Freeman. “It is the balanced diet of the mind and body. The body feeds off the food, and the mind feeds off of the culture and your environment. And that’s what we need to understand. We want to change the culture, and these types of events bring attention to those issues.”
