CDC Exhibit Highlights Arts Organizations Creatively Reaching Key Audiences to Improve Public Health Protection

“Trusted Messengers” exhibition showcases works of art created to promote confidence in COVID-19 vaccines

ATLANTA — A new exhibition at the David J. Sencer CDC Museum in Atlanta, titled Trusted Messengers: Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines Through Art, features original art from six organizations working to increase vaccine acceptance in their communities. Their efforts were part of a 2022 collaboration between the CDC Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts that supported 30 organizations across the United States to use art to build vaccine confidence in creative and memorable ways.

The organizations produced artwork and events in communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and areas with low vaccination rates. More than 600 artists lent their talents to this outreach, and their creations spanned a wide variety of media including posters, public murals, music videos and live performances.

In the Trusted Messengers exhibition, CDC Museum curator Louise E. Shaw collaborated with CDC Foundation staff to create installations that highlight works of art that are unique representations of the neighborhoods and communities in which they were created. The pieces include everything from paper quilt designs made in rural South Dakota to music videos produced in Saint Louis.

“Our talented partner organizations have created meaningful, innovative projects that engaged and informed community members,” said Catherine Zilber, MSc, vice president for infectious disease programs at the CDC Foundation. “This new exhibition features impressive art and uplifting messaging that demonstrates the crucial role the arts can play in communicating about important public health issues.”

Trusted Messengers: Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines Through Art is currently scheduled to run through spring 2023 and features work from Studio Two Three in Richmond, VA; Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective in St. Louis; West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology in Grand Rapids, MI; Vermillion Cultural Association and Creative Care in Vermillion, SD; Community Music School of Springfield and the Springfield Cultural Partnership in Springfield, MA; and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL.

For more information about the exhibit or the David J. Sencer CDC Museum, please visit their website.

Funding for this effort is made possible through a subaward from the CDC Foundation and is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) financial assistance award totaling $2,500,000.00 with 100 percent funding from CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.