'Healthy Artists: The Movie"

Healthy Artists Poster by Andy Scott*

Filmmaker, writer, and musician Julie Sokolow has produced and directed a documentary, Healthy Artists, which examines the experiences of artists who lack health care insurance. Sokolow, who also advocates for health care, shot her film in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she has collected and presented online (see her video series "Healthy Artists") more than three dozen uninsured artists' personal stories of struggles with health issues and medical debt. Hers is an important project that deserves attention and corrective action.

How does your own experience as an artist compare to the stories told by Sokolow?

Healthy Artists Website

HealthCare4AllPA Education Fund

The film may be seen at "A Crusader on What Ails Artists" (The New York Times, February 18, 2014), as well as on YouTube and Healthy Artists.

* A competition to design a Healthy Artists poster drew commissions from 21 Pittsburgh artists. The designs were judged by curators  and producers from Carnegie Museum of Art, Criterion Collection, MASS MoCA, Steeltown Film Factory, and the Warhol Museum. Scott was awarded first prize; Seth Clark, second; and Jim Rugg, third. All the posters may be viewed at the post "21 Posters + Winners Revealed!"