In this section, you can find articles and links related to the important connection between art and health.
The concept of Art Care is, for me, an understanding of the arts not merely as cultural expressions or therapeutic tools, but as practices of care embedded in everyday life, institutions and relationships. Art Care draws attention to how engagements with the arts can create spaces for connection, recognition and meaning. The arts clearly hold profound meaning for some individuals, yet they are not universally valued or accessed in the same ways. For others, different forms of engagement—such as sport, religious practice or other forms of social participation—may serve similar functions. This diversity does not weaken the case for the arts in health and wellbeing; rather, it points to the importance of understanding meaning as plural, contextual and deeply personal. What unites these activities is not their form, but their capacity to be meaningful.
Anita Jensen
The Nordic Journal of Arts, Culture and Health, volume 7, Issue 1, 2026
Scientific studies increasingly confirm what human beings across cultures and throughout time have long recognized: we are wired for art. The arts in all of their modalities can improve our physical and mental health, amplify our ability to prevent, manage, or recover from disease challenges, enhance brain development in children, build more equitable communities, and foster wellbeing through multiple biological systems.
Arts interventions can lower the burden and cost of chronic and degenerative diseases, mental health challenges, addiction, and trauma.
From Leonardo, Wired for Art: How NeuroArts is Redefining Health, Healing, and Human Connection:
Articles, reviews
CultureForHealth Report 2022. https://www.cultureforhealth.eu/app/uploads/2023/02/Final_C4H_FullReport_small.pdf
Doove, E. (2026). The pivotal turn of art as healer. https://hadithi.net/the-pivotal-turn-of-art-as-healer/
Fancourt, D., Stringaris, A. & Sacco, P.L. Mechanisms underpinning the mental health impact of arts engagement. Nat Rev Psychol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-026-00545-2
Flower, M.; Hamington, M. Care Ethics, Bruno Latour, and the Anthropocene. Philosophies 2022, 7, 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies7020031
Kallio-Tavin, M. (2025). More-Than-Human Care in Art Education: Postqualitative Ontologies and Other Minor Gestures. Studies in Art Education, 66(4), 442–458. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2025.2553498
Lowenhaupt Tsing, A., e.a. Arts of Living on A Damaged Planet – Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene. University of Minnesota Press, 2017. https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517902377/arts-of-living-on-a-damaged-planet/
Puncer, M. Philosophy of Care, Feminist Care Theory and Art Care. Philosophies 2025, 10, 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies10040080
Stamkou, Eftychia, and DacherKeltner. 2026. “Aesthetic Revolution: How Art Shapes Social Worlds,” Social and Personality Psychology Compass: e70135. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.70135.
Talasek, JD. Wired for Art. Leonardo. https://leonardo.info/blog/2026/01/02/wired-for-art-how-neuroarts-is-redefining-health-healing-and-human-connection
Books
Fancourt, D. Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform our Health. Penguin Books: London, UK, 2026. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/462340/art-cure-by-fancourt-daisy/9781804950791
Groys, B. The Philosophy of Care. Verso: London, UK, 2022.
Magazines
Nordic Journal of Arts, Culture and Health, https://www.scup.com/journal/njach
Webinars
The Art of Prescribing: Advancing Arts-Based Pathways to Health – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocnv9rzJeYY
Websites
Culture for Health – https://www.cultureforhealth.eu/