- Well, the wounds we carry aren't always visible, and the path to healing isn't always found in a doctor's office.

Here in Charlotte, art is being used in a different kind of prescription, one designed to connect people, combat loneliness, and improve wellbeing.

The idea has even caught the attention nationally of the PBS News Hour.

Our producer, Doug Stacker, shot the story the same day they were in town.

He takes us to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art to see how creativity is becoming part of the healing process.

- I'm always so impressed by people's willingness to share their stories, to tell us really personal things.

I'm Diane Lincoln Estes, I'm a producer at the PBS News Hour.

(upbeat music) This is a particularly visual story.

Point your camera at the right place and just let this do the talking.

I think a lot of our viewers don't know much about what social prescriptions are, and so we were looking around and we saw that there's this program that's fairly new right here in Charlotte, North Carolina, using visual arts to help address some things that people are dealing with.

- So about a year and a half ago, we launched a program that we work with Novant Health and we work with individuals that are suffering from social isolation and loneliness, and they're literally referred to their prescribed art as medicine.

And instead of going to the pharmacy, they have their prescription filled, they come to the Bechtler and we create a series of programs for the visual arts.

They attend performances at Three Bone Theater in Charlotte Ballet, they create sculpture at Playworks, all the while discussing the arts, experiencing it with other people that they don't know, and in the end, forming friendships and removing some of the social isolation that they are feeling.

- My name is Alisha Bigby, I live in historic Belmont neighborhood here in Charlotte.

Back in 2024, just within three weeks, I wound up losing both parents and two older brothers.

They passed away just abruptly, all within that short time period, and I just basically disassociated with everything.

I lost my voice.

My therapist felt like this was another way to express myself and that I could probably get some wonderful benefits from the Art on Prescription program.

- Well, the feedback has been remarkable.

People have really seen a dramatic increase in their connection.

There've also been a variety of people in the program.

We have almost 100 people in the program ranging in age from in their 20s well into their 70s, and it's just a way for people across all the spectrum to come together.

- [Alisha] It allowed me the permission that I can feel.

I don't have to feel embarrassed about how I feel whenever I see art.

I know that the artists were feeling whatever they felt whenever they created it.

So sometimes, you don't always have to have your voice whenever you are expressing your emotions.

- We saw a strong need in the community to combat loneliness, but we also saw something important for the arts to celebrate, and that is what brings us together as humans, and that is the creative process.

(gentle music) - I think what drives so many people that we talk to is that they really wanna help other people.

They want other people who are maybe watching or listening or reading online, they want them to know that they're not alone and that there are these universal things that we're all dealing with.

What really brings it to life are people like Alisha.

- So whenever I look at that painting, it just really makes me think about my mom.

I just get this smile on my face.

She collected paintings of African American Union soldiers.

And so as soon as I came here and I saw that painting, I just really thought, look, that's Maddie Mae right there.

With the Art on Prescription program, I'm with other people, and other people are interpreting whatever they're interpreting at that particular moment, and they're also feeling vulnerable and okay with saying, "It's okay for me to also feel whatever I'm feeling right now, and I don't have to pretend, it's okay."