Healthcare clowning

An elderly man with a red clown nose is smiling and holding hands with someone. He has gray hair and a beard, wearing a plaid shirt, sitting in a wooden chair. In the background, three women are seated on couches, smiling and chatting in a cozy room with horizontal blinds on the window.

Dell'Arte in partnership with places of healing

For questions and inquiries,  please contact Program Director Julie Douglas at juliedouglas@dellarte.com.

Dell’Arte's Healthcare Clowning program uses an applied branch of clowning that addresses social determinants of health through play, humor, empathy, and human connection in healthcare and residential settings. Through music, puppetry, storytelling, movement, physical comedy and more, clowns create moments of joy in environments that are often isolating and stressful. Healthcare Clowning is not just entertainment, it offers connection, support and uplifts its participants. By listening, responding and following the lead of the participant, Healthcare Clowns support physical and mental wellbeing.

Engagements vary by site and include clowns facilitating group activities and individualized visits. The clowns partner with staff to support patients and residents experiencing, stress, isolation, anxiety or discomfort. Healthcare clowns continuously assess participants’ energy and emotional state to shape each interaction in real time. Engagement may include direct play, family participation, distraction during medical procedures, attunement and listening or integrating movement and laughter into therapeutic goals.

A two month pilot of this program was launched in Fall of 2024, supported in part by the Ink People, the Humboldt Creative Alliance, and Humboldt County’s Measure J, and Healthcare Clown training intensives have been held the last three summers at Dell'Arte. Currently, Dell’Arte's Healthcare Clowning Program is visiting the assisted living and memory care facilities at Timber Ridge Assisted Living (McKinleyville and Eureka) and patients of all ages at St. Joe’s Hospital (Eureka) including oncology and the pediatric cardiac clinic as well as the residents at Bayview Heights (Eureka), a veteran and formerly unhoused residence (This current activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency). We hope to continue and grow this program by partnering with more organizations around the county to reach more people with this impactful work.

Pictured: Dell'Arte International’s Healthcare Clowning Pilot Program visit to Timber Ridge in McKinleyville on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. Clowns: Julie Douglas ("Olive" in flowered dress), Allessandra Russo ("Dr. Princess Cake" in dress) and Victoria Timoteo ("Goose" in suspenders). Photos by Mark Larson and courtesy Timber Ridge.

A woman dressed as a clown, wearing a green dress with white lace details, a red nose, green makeup around her eyes, and a yellow hair accessory. She is sitting on a chair, playing a black acoustic guitar, with a ruffled, layered skirt and pink and white striped stockings.
People dressed as clowns performing in a room with elderly audience members. One clown has a floral dress and a red nose, another has a yellow dress with striped socks, and a third has a hat with a yellow nose.
An elderly man with a red clown nose sitting in a wooden rocking chair indoors, gesturing with his right hand, wearing a beige cap and casual clothes, while a woman with a red clown nose and walker stands beside him in a room with large windows, a bookshelf with pumpkin decorations
Three women dressed as clowns posing together in a room. They are wearing colorful, playful costumes with clown makeup, including red noses and exaggerated expressions. One woman is holding a rubber chicken.
An elderly woman with curly white hair, glasses, and a blue sweater, and an elderly man with glasses and a plaid jacket, sitting at a table. The man is holding a yellow rubber chicken with an animated face, and they are engaging in a conversation indoors, with books on a shelf in the background.

Summer Intensives on Healthcare Clowning

Dell’Arte launched its first summer intensive on Healthcare Clowning—co taught by Douglas, Michelle Matlock, and Jeff Raz—in the summer of 2024.

The Clown’s great capacity for buoyancy and presence through the unknown holds great power off the performance stage as well. During our summer intensive, participants investigate how to use those skills for humanitarian purposes in places of healing. Expect a skills-based focus with exercises around presence, listening and awareness. Participants will learn about how clowns engage in various care facilities (such as nursing homes and hospitals), as well as receive instruction about practicing emotional hygiene and self-care in this work.

“We know that artists who come to Dell’Arte are hungry not only to increase their theatrical skills, but also make a difference in the world. This program helps actors do both by working with folks in need on unconventional stages,” says Dell’Arte’s former Head of Training, Tony Fuemmeler.

Healthcare Clowning Training

Our Team

Julie Douglas

Program Director & Healthcare clown

Julie Douglas is a theatre-maker, teacher, actor, clown and Director of Dell’Arte’s Healthcare Clowning Program. While on faculty at Dell’Arte International she has taught Clowning, Healthcare Clowning, Improv, Michael Chekhov Technique, the Alexander Technique, Mask performance and more. As Head of Arts Engagement Julie facilitated a variety of activities, exchanges, service projects, and learning opportunities between local community groups and Dell’Arte. As a performer, you may remember her from recent mainstage shows such as The Poor of New York, Love’s the Best Doctor, and the Macabre Cabaret. Before returning to Humboldt in 2021, she spent eleven years in the Bay Area where she was on faculty at American Conservatory Theatre and St. Mary’s College as well as a teaching-artist with a variety of Bay Area schools and companies from youth to adults. While in the Bay Julie was a Healthcare Clown with the Medical Clown Project for six and half years and currently sits on their board of directors. She also performed with We Players, S.F. Shakes, Idiot String, Cutting Ball, Impact Theatre, Shotgun Players, as well as in clown cabarets and devised theater festivals. She is a certified Michael Chekhov Technique Instructor and Alexander Technique Teacher. Julie is a 2010 alumna of Dell’Arte International’s MFA and holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Alessandra Russo

Alessandra Russo is an Arcata-based multimedia artist, producer, and performer whose work blends physical theater, mask and puppet arts, ecological storytelling, and sculpture. A graduate of Dell’Arte International's Professional Training Program (2022), she is trained in ensemble devising, physical theater, and mask performance and construction. In 2023, she co-founded Mystical A/V Club with Victoria Timoteo, a production company dedicated to creating original multimedia performance work in Humboldt County. They are the co-producers of Ouroborotopia (2025), a three-day live performance festival that presented new works by 30+ local artists. Alessandra recently completed a self-designed B.A. in Scientific Communication & Ecological Storytelling at Cal Poly Humboldt. A perennial student of terrestrial ecology with a particular fascination for fungi, plants, and insects, she brings a strong scientific curiosity and animistic ethos to everything she makes.

Healthcare clown
healthcare clown

Victoria Timoteo

Victoria Timoteo is a performer, theatre artist, and producer with 15 years of experience specializing in clown, physical, and devised theatre. A graduate of Dell’Arte International’s year long training program, they have a desire to continue creating and teaching ensemble work. They co-run Gooseberry Gallery, a private artists studio in Blue Lake and co-founded Mystical A/V Club, a production company that has staged four shows and a performance festival in Humboldt. Their 5 woman ensemble, Magenta Mountain, is one of their deepest loves whom they continue to create work with. Their most recent love is in visiting Humboldt's local elder care facilities and St. Joseph's Hospital as part of the Healthcare Clowning Program through DAI!