CHESS Researchers Lead New Grant to Study Impact of Youth Arts Programs on Well-Being

A new half-million dollar grant from the Wallace Foundation will help UNC Charlotte researchers study the outcomes of arts programs for youth in the Charlotte region.

The project entitled “Youth Arts and Well-Being: Examining Individual and Community Impacts,” will be an in-depth study partnered with three Charlotte-based youth arts organizations over the next two and half years.

The research will assess indicators such as mental and emotional health, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, civic engagement and social capital on the youth who participate in the arts programming, as well as their families, and the organizations themselves. It is being conducted in the Center for Community, Heritage, and the Arts (CHArt), which is housed in the College of Arts + Architecture and supported collaboratively by the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences.

Faculty in CHESS are leading the study, with Vaughn Schmutz, associate professor of sociology, serving as the principal investigator. Janaka Lewis, professor of English and CHESS associate dean of curriculum and student success, and Jaclyn Piatak, professor of political science and public administration, are part of the interdisciplinary group of researchers, including faculty and staff from CoAA and the Cato College of Education.

The project will begin in January 2026 and examine the influence of programming offered by Black Girls Film Camp, Lorien Arts and The Arts Empowerment Project. The research will add to previous UNC Charlotte studies of local artists and arts organizations funded by Gambrell Faculty Fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Charlotte Opportunity Fund.