Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, a pioneering initiative from the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her body of work lies at the intersection of brain sciences and the arts—and how our unique response to aesthetic experiences can amplify human potential.
Magsamen is the author of the Impact Thinking model, an evidence-based research approach to accelerate how we use the arts to solve problems in health, well-being, and learning. In addition to her role at IAM Lab, she is an assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins and serves as co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative in partnership with the Aspen Institute.
Check In
10:30 am – 11:30 am
Gathering and Welcome
11:00 am – 11:30 am
Dana Knapp, President & CEO, ArtsKC
Luncheon Session
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Keynote speaker Susan Magsamen, scientist and author of “Your Brain on Art”, and the Co-Director of the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program
Break + Live Performance
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Discovery Sessions: Impact at the Intersection of Art, Health & Well-Being
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Participants will be assigned into breakout rooms that will meet simultaneously and with a common goal of discovering how integrating the arts into our everyday lives can change us – through the lens of self, life, and community.
Break + Live Performance
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Sharing Out Session
4:00 pm – 4:45 pm
Reunite as a larger group to debrief and share Discovery Session Takeaways
Wrap-up + Call to Action
4:45 pm – 5:00 pm
Reception and Connecting
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Live performance + food & drink