At-risk teens use it to find meaning in the world around them -and in themselves. It offers healing to both chronically ill toddlers and veterans battling PTSD. What is this magical elixir? Art. Exploring the vital role the arts play in human development during both youth and older age and shares stories and cutting edge scientific research on how music, dance, painting, poetry and theater markedly improve well-being at both ends of life.
LOOKS AT HOW THE ARTS DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN OUR MINDS ACROSS A LIFETIME
Available on DVD from PBS Distribution January 8th
Arlington, Va. - December 5, 2012 - PBS Distribution today announced it is releasing Arts & The Mind on DVD. Alzheimer's researchers call it a powerful tool to ward off dementia. At-risk teens use it to find meaning in the world around them -and in themselves. It offers healing to both chronically ill toddlers and veterans battling PTSD. What is this magical elixir? Art. Exploring the vital role the arts play in human development during both youth and older age, Arts & The Mind shares stories and cutting edge scientific research on how music, dance, painting, poetry and theater markedly improve well-being at both ends of life. This program will be available on DVD January 8, 2013. The SRP for the DVD is $24.99 and its run time is 120 minutes.
Program Synopsis
Hosted and narrated by Lisa Kudrow, Arts & The Mind makes the point that art is not a "luxury," but central to the development of the human brain in youth and keeping our minds sharp as we get older.
"At a time in our history when arts education is being diminished in our schools, these films document how the arts positively shape young minds, and keep our minds agile as we age," says host Lisa Kudrow. "I am pleased and proud to help share this message with viewers of all ages."
Weaving together stories from childhood and older age, Arts & The Mind journeys across America, showcasing some of the nation's most innovative and successful arts programs plus revealing the insights and work of leading American neurologists, psychologists and educators. This program illuminates:
* How the arts can improve children's school performance and build both creativity and competency - featuring stories from the Inner-City Arts program in Los Angeles' "skid row" and Baltimore Symphony conductor Marin Alsop's renowned OrchKids Program;
* How teenagers find meaning and hope through poetry at Get Lit, an L.A. program run by actress Diane Lane and supported by actor Tim Robbins;
* How music binds the generations in Appalachia;
* How the multi-generational Kairos Dance Theater in Minneapolis brings together dancers from 9 to 90, and whose Dancing Heart program provides stimulation and inspiration to those in nursing homes;
* How New York City's Museum of Modern Art "Meet Me at MoMA" program makes the arts accessible to people with dementia.
Throughout Arts & The Mind experts provide scientific context for everything we see. Researchers such as Dr. Antonio Damasio (University of Southern California), Dr. Ellen Winner (Boston College), Dr. James Catterall (UCLA), Dr. Charles Limb (Johns Hopkins Medical Institute) and Dr. Peter Davies (Albert Einstein Medical Center) reveal the latest research on the impact of the arts on human development; why the arts improve children's learning and achievement in school; and evidence to confirm how the arts keep middle-aged and older brains agile and alert. Included in these sections are the latest medical imaging techniques that illustrate their findings.
Arts & The Mind is a production of TPT National Productions and Eaton Creative. Leo Eaton is writer/producer/director. Editor: Barbara Ballow. Executive Producer: Gerry Richman.
Funding for "ARTS & THE MIND" is provided by MetLife Foundation, whose goal is to empower people to lead healthy, productive lives and strengthen communities.
TPT National Productions is the national production division of Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), the PBS affiliate for Minneapolis/St. Paul. TPT National Productions is a significant content producer for the public television system, and has received television's highest honors, including over 50 national and regional Emmy Awards, the DuPont-Columbia Commendation and three Peabody Awards. TPT has produced a major body of work for PBS in the areas of the arts, education, health and aging. These include seven seasons of the internationally acclaimed arts series Alive From Off Center; three long-running science education series: Newton's Apple, DragonflyTV, and SciGirls; and in the areas of health and aging, the highly lauded works: The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's, Life (Part 2), and Depression: Out of the Shadows.
Eaton Creative is a Maryland-based television production company creating history & arts programming, public affairs documentaries and children's television, and specializing in co-production between the US and Europe. President & CEO Leo Eaton is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker who's written, produced, directed or executive produced TV factual series and specials for US and overseas broadcasters including PBS, National Geographic, A&E, BBC-TV, ABC (Australia), and RTE (Ireland), including Zoboomafoo, America at a Crossroads, The Story of India (with Michael Wood), Can the Gulf Survive (about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) and Homeland, Immigration in America.
About PBS Distribution
PBS Distribution is the leading media distributor for the public television community, both domestically and internationally. Jointly owned by PBS (Arlington, VA) and WGBH (Boston, MA), PBS Distribution extends the reach of public television programs beyond broadcast while generating revenue for the public television system and our production partners.
PBS Distribution offers a diverse range of programming to our customers, including Ken Burns's films (Prohibition, The National Parks, The War, Baseball, Jazz), documentaries from award-winning series NOVA (The Elegant Universe, Origins), FRONTLINE (God in America, Bush's War, Growing Up Online), and American Experience (Freedom Riders, We Shall Remain), dramas from Masterpiece (Downton Abbey, Jane Eyre, Inspector Lewis), films from independent producers (The Buddha, The Story of India, Carrier, Journey into Buddhism, I.O.U.S.A.), and popular children's programming from Dinosaur Train, Super Why!, WordGirl, Cyberchase, Martha Speaks, and Arthur. As a multi-channel distributor, PBS Distribution pursues wholesale/retail sales, consumer and educational sales through PBS- branded catalogs and online shops, and international broadcast and video sales. PBS Distribution is also a leader in offering programming through digital platforms including the internet, mobile, and web-connected television.
Arts & The Mind
Street Date: January 8, 2013
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 120 Minutes
SRP: $24.99
Format: DVD
HOSTED BY LISA KUDROW, 
