By Ricky S 
Over the years, loneliness has grown into something that affects many people and has become equal to smoking one and a half packs of cigarettes every day. Nowadays, organizations have come up with initiatives to end this social issue.
The Ludington Area Center for the Arts (LACA) in Michigan is hosting an exhibition titled “Loneliness, Isolation and Connection” from March 7 to 29, featuring 75 artworks from 57 artists across 23 states and Israel.
The date is a part of the HumanKind Series organized by West Shore Community College. It is a program that deals with the issue of loneliness and the connection of people, so the main principle is togetherness and community.
The HumanKind Series is a wide-ranging program consisting of different activities, including presentations, workshops, films, and performing arts events, all of which are designed to find answers to loneliness.
The LACA exhibition contains a broad spectrum of pieces of the art of drawing, painting, carving, and sewing, so it was handpicked by the one chosen among LACA members Barbara Forgue and Paula DeGregorio. This kind of initiative driven by the community shows art and the role the public plays in fighting social isolation.
Public health experts say that social connections have an essential role in the preservation of the mental and physical health of a person. Loneliness that is chronic is the beginning of a tough process when people face the raised risk of having depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular diseases.
By offering settings that promote participation in the community and the expression of artistic initiatives such as HumanKind, the prevention of health issues and the promotion of a healthy life are the main goals.
The viewpoint of the government and health organizations in the scope of the importance of loneliness has changed for the better. Politicians and experts worldwide are instituting policies and are setting up programs to create supportive communities and easily accessible mental health resources.
Combining artistic and cultural events with public health initiatives is a practical example of a comprehensive approach to attacking loneliness, which is related to the complexities of human relations.
As more people become aware, artistic centers, educational institutions, and health organizations start to work together more and more. The purpose of these collaborations is to generate a comfortable environment residents can use as a springboard for meeting as well as engaging each other constructively. Such projects can be replicable in other localities where the root cause of loneliness is a public health problem.