A project led by Northeastern University Professor Dani Snyder-Young, Department of Theatre, in conjunction with Professor Alisa Lincoln of Northeastern’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences, has been approved for funding by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The project, entitled Theatre participation and arts-integrated peer leadership in substance addiction recovery processes, examines the ways participation as an actor in a theatre-integrated program engaging with substance addiction and recovery supports performers with their own recovery processes.

Professor Snyder-Young is partnering with Massachusetts-based Improbable Players and Phoenix Tales Recovery Storytelling on this project. These two organizations have worked with more than 350 people to develop peer leaders in substance addiction recovery processes; each program uses different theatre processes to develop peer leaders in recovery processes, using public performance to de-stigmatize substance addiction recovery. Theatre participation and arts-integrated peer leadership in substance addiction recovery processes examines the ways that people in recovery from substance addiction understand the impact of theatre participation on their mental health and well-being in long-term recovery processes.

Professor Snyder-Young’s award is one of 15 grants nationwide that the NEA has approved in this category.

“These awards demonstrate the resilience of the arts in America, showcasing not only the creativity of their arts projects but the organizations’ agility in the face of a national health crisis,” said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “We celebrate organizations like Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media and Design and Bouvé College of Health Sciences for providing opportunities for learning and engagement through the arts in these times.”

For more information on the National Endowment for the Arts and this year’s grant recipients, please visit arts.gov/news.