Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116547

Roger Valdez, MA, Public Health-Seattle and King County, Tobacco Prevention Program, 999 3rd Ave., Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98104, (206) 296-7613, roger.valdez@metrokc.gov

Over the last 50 years tobacco companies have been sponsoring arts and cultural events. Lately that trend has included turning local, small scale arts events and organizations into marketing vehicles for tobacco products, targeting especially young adults and the gay community. Arpatch is a project that was developed in cooperation with Cornish School of the Arts and Public Health Seattle King County to counter these efforts in Seattle.

Key Points

1. Any effort at countering tobacco funding of local arts and culture should avoid typical public health methods of communication but should seek out opportunities to use the mediums and formats that artists use and appreciate themselves.

2. Tobacco funding of local arts organizations is a by product of the lack of prioritization of public officials, policy makers and the public in general to see art as important and relevant to the life and health of a community.

3. Efforts to work against this kind of funding need to engage people in a provocative way about the role that art and culture play in their lives and how tobacco funding can undermine and distort that role.

Benefits to Attendees

Participants will get a review of the planning and strategy behind the creation of Artpatch including a review of the design process. See:

http://clientfiles.freshandtastydesign.com/patch/PatchProcess9_13_04.pdf

The benefit to attendees will be a greater perspective on the issue of tobacco funding arts and culture and develop unique, interesting and collaborative ways to challenge it in their communities.

Learning Objectives: