The Art of Elysium: An Interview With Founder Jennifer Howell

Rio Asch Phoenix @rioaschphoenix

It’s wild how one conversation can quietly shift your entire perspective.

What started as an interview with Jennifer Howell, founder of The Art of Elysium, a 501(c)(3) that pairs volunteer artists with fragile communities in Los Angeles motivated by a belief that artistic practice in the context of public service is a powerful catalyst for social change, quickly became something much deeper: an understanding that what this organization does isn’t just charity work; it’s a philosophy about what it means to be human.

The origin story began long before the organization was legally formed. Just out of college and developing a film career in LA, Jennifer went home to visit a close childhood friend battling leukemia who told her, “If you want to do something for somebody sick, do something for these kids in hospitals who don’t have anybody.” Over time, that challenge led her to gather artists—musicians, writers, actors, painters, designers—and bring them into hospitals. Not to perform for patients, but to create with them. That distinction is everything.

And that’s where this organization reveals its true depth.

In these spaces, something powerful happens. For the person in the hospital bed or shelter, it becomes a moment of freedom—a chance to forget pain, even temporarily. But equally important, for the artist, the act of service changes them, too. It’s not a one-way act of giving; it’s an exchange. It brings light into spaces of illness, grief, and hardship, while also reshaping the artists, the volunteers, and anyone who engages with it.

“I am sometimes not even convinced… if the people we serve are humans, or if they are angels, who are allowing us to serve them.”

Almost thirty years later, The Art of Elysium facilitates immersive creative workshops in hospitals, hospice care, homeless shelters, elder care facilities, veteran communities, and beyond. Artists volunteer their time and talents to collaborate directly with people who are facing illness, loss, or hardship—writing songs together, painting, designing fashion, creating films, building stories, even playing obscure instruments. The work isn’t prescriptive; it’s driven by the artist’s imagination and the participant’s spirit. The goal isn’t distraction; it’s transformation.

“This charity begins with an artist and it ends with an artist… It is in the act of serving through creating that the miracle happens. And if you have an artistic community committed to using their gifts without ego, helping someone create—even in their hardest moment—can change the world.”

Even the name feels serendipitous. In Greek mythology, Elysium is the place where heroes go—the inner sanctum of heaven—perfectly captures the heart of what Jennifer has built: not an escape from reality, but a way of creating something transcendent within it.

“Elysium—It’s not just a name. It’s a philosophy. It’s about creating heaven on earth. And I believe each of us has heaven within us. Your heaven can be different from mine, but helping you realize yours doesn’t diminish mine. If you want to create heaven on earth, unlock it in the person next to you… and in doing so, you’ll unlock your own.”

That’s why this work matters—and why it’s often misunderstood. It’s easy to label it as a children’s charity or an arts nonprofit. But it’s really about something much bigger: unlocking creativity as a universal human force—not as a luxury, but as a necessity; not as entertainment, but as healing.

““We are created, so the act of creation lives inside all of us. We are here to help each other unlock our creativity. Because whatever people believe created us, if we were created, then creation lives inside us.”

The Art of Elysium is the designated beneficiary of the The People’s Artist competition, which serves as a fundraising campaign for AIT, a United States 501(c)(3) public charity organization, which will grant donation funds to The Art of Elysium at the completion of the competition.