LIVE ONLINE: WEDNESDAY, January 31 @ 8PM, Secret Science Club & the Dana Foundation present an ENCORE PRESENTATION ON “ART & THE BRAIN” with Art Therapy Researcher GIRIJA KAIMAL, Free!

Secret Science Club presents an ENCORE EDITION of the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Talk Series” on “ART & THE BRAIN” featuring Art Therapist & Researcher GIRIJA KAIMAL

Join us live via Zoom on Wednesday, January 31 @ 8PM (Eastern Time USA) "Doors" open at 7:30PM 

Here's how to sign up: Everyone on our mailing list will be emailed the Zoom link the night before. To join the Secret Science Club mailing list (or just request the Zoom link), send us an email (secretscienceclub@gmail.com)

So much about the human brain is still a mystery, and one of its greatest mysteries is the urge for self-expression through art—whether it be visual art, movement, music, literature, design, theater, or something else. Whatever drives us to create art, a growing body of research is revealing that making art (or even just experiencing it) can be therapeutic, soothing, and empowering.

At the next Secret Science Club Online, art therapy researacher Girija Kaimal explores how art-making affects our brains, our moods, and our mental health.

GIRIJA KAIMAL is a professor in the department of Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University and directs the Health, Arts, Learning and Evaluation (HALE) lab, where she researches how visual art-making affects our physiological and psychological well-being. She is the current president of the American Art Therapy Association and her most recent book is The Expressive Instinct: How Imagination and Creative Works Help Us Survive and Thrive. In her own art practice, she explores identity and representation of emotion. As an art therapist and mental health researcher, areas of focus include traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and chronic stress among cancer patients and caregivers.

Before & After
--Mix up our cocktail & mocktail of the night, the Artist's Palette (recipe below!)

--Shimmy to synapse-soothing grooves

--Bring your questions for the live Q&A (and pen and paper for doodling)!

This encore edition of Secret Science Club - the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Talk Series” - is supported by the Dana Foundation as part of its Dana Education program. The Foundation’s mission is to advance neuroscience that benefits society and reflects the aspirations of all people.

THIS IS A FREE EVENT.

What’s next at Secret Science Club?
--On Thursday, February 8, we’ll be at the Hudson River Park Discovery Tank on Pier 57 in Manhattan with sea turtle scientists Maxine Montello & Jill Pryor and bird migration researcher Shannon Curley.
-On Tuesday, February 20, we’ll be back at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Stay tuned for details!

(Note: If you don't already have the Zoom meeting app on your computer or mobile device, you can download it for free at zoom.us)

Cocktail Recipe for the “Artist’s Palette” (created by the Secret Science Club experimental mixology lab)
Ingredients: 2 oz Tequila; 4 oz Orange Juice; 2 oz Fever-Tree Lime & Yuzu soda; ½ oz Grenadine; 1 or 2 Luxardo (or Amarena) Cherries
- Pour the tequila, then the orange juice, then the soda into a large highball glass filled with ice
- Over the back of a spoon, very slowly pour in the grenadine, letting it trickle down the side of the glass (to create a layered effect)
- Garnish with the candied cherries
For a mocktail version: Skip the tequila and add 4 oz of soda instead of 2 oz. Enjoy!

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.