IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE on Tuesday, December 5 @ 7:30PM, Secret Science Club & the Dana Foundation present ART & THE BRAIN, with Girija Kaimal & Constantina Theofanopoulou, FREE!

Secret Science Club presents the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Talk Series” on “ART & THE BRAIN” featuring Artist, Art Therapist & Researcher GIRIJA KAIMAL & Neuroscientist & Dancer CONSTANTINA THEOFANOPOULOU

IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE IN BROOKLYN on Tuesday, December 5, 7:30PM (Doors open at 7PM), Free!

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, acting, 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 this edition of Secret Science Club, art therapist Girija Kaimal and neuroscientist Constantina Theofanopoulou explore how art-making affects our brain chemistry, our moods, and our mental health.

Join us in celebrating both science and art at this special end-of-year program!

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.

CONSTANTINA THEOFANOPOULOU is a neuroscientist and an award-winning flamenco dancer. She is director of the Neurobiology of Social Communication Lab at Rockefeller University and Visiting Scholar at New York University. She’s using her experience in dance to inform research on the connections between dance and speech—and the possibility that dance therapy might improve deficits in speech, particularly among people coping with Parkinson’s Disease and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Before & After
--Try our arty cocktail of the night, the Creative Juices

--Shimmy to synapse-soothing grooves

-- Draw, sketch & color in our Art Lounge

--Bring your questions for the scintillating Q&A

This mind-blowing 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 to spark interest in and support education around neuroscience and the many ways it interfaces with our everyday lives. This is one of the Foundation’s three programs working to advance neuroscience that benefits society and reflects the aspirations of all people.

Secret Science Club meets in-person on Tuesday, December 5, 7:30PM @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St.

Doors to the performance space open at 7PM.

Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self.

*This event will be mixed seated/standing. Arrive early for best seat selection.*

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