Mapping of Initiatives on Culture, Health and Well-being

Art therapy workshops for personal development and creativity at a local community centre for people with physical and intellectual disabilities based on the works of Polish artist Zdislaw Beksinski. These initiatives allow participants to encounter themes of death and fragility of life as well as to become independent and improve dexterity skills and causal reasoning. Many have found work after the workshops.

Initiative using the gallery space to promote bone marrow donation and gather potential donors. Using art for health purposes, the initiative accompanied an exhibition. The main aim of the initiative was raising awareness of the need for bone marrow donation and encouraging visitors to think about donating.

In January 2019, the RecuperArte working group was formed for the research, evaluation and dissemination of the clinical and social impact of an art therapy program on the recovery process in mental health developed in museums in the city of Malaga from the synergy to its implementation among professionals of the mental health network, occupational professionals of the social support network, professional educators of museums and users, mutual aid agents. Currently the programs included in the RecuperArte project are referred to a group format (10-15 people, with sporadic participants such as students, family members, volunteers, etc.) of two hours, weekly frequency and quarterly or six-monthly duration, always with flexibility and adaptation to the rhythm of the group. It is worth highlighting the active and participative figure of mutual aid agents that have been incorporated into the development of several of the programs. The programs include visits to the exhibition halls with artistic mediation, artistic production time in the didactic classroom and finally sharing with the group and society. The sessions share a structure that brings together various modules that are adapted to the resources of each collaborating museum, working on identity, the group and society.

RecuperArte working group was formed for the research, evaluation and dissemination of the clinical and social impact of an art therapy program on the recovery process in mental health developed in museums in the city of Malaga from the synergy for its implementation among professionals of the mental health network, occupational professionals from the social support network, professional museum educators and users mutual aid agents.

The museum doors are opened to various social sectors, including minorities. And specifically, museums open their doors to people with mental disorders who, historically had been subject to marginalization and stigma, and therefore excluded from cultural participation. This implies a change of vision and positioning of some institutions and sectors of culture. In doing this, the organizers propose a series seminar-workshop organized in series of six weeks, in which each group, of between ten and fifteen members, attends once a week. Everything starts with a visit to the exhibition halls: in each session, a series of works that have a common link are observed and commented on. It is not a guided tour but rather a work of artistic mediation in which the artistic mediator facilitates the communication established between the work of art and the viewer, respecting and strengthening the point of view of each person and their own expression, trying not to contaminate with a previous speech, mediating so that each group and each person, value and develop their own argument and motivating group communication. Later there is a production part of the workshop: it is the time to create, individually or in groups, from quite open and flexible proposals that have some relationship with what is seen in the room and that promote the connection with the inner and emotional world. It works from different artistic languages, techniques and materials. The proposals can sometimes last more than one session, sometimes interacting with other mental health groups or with groups outside the experience. The sessions end with a group space in which a sharing is carried out in the group based on the works carried out.

A series of conversations and talks in digital format to reflect on the role of art in supporting the well-being of the mental health of people and communities, especially in the period of isolation caused by the covid-19 pandemic. In the talks prominent guests from the culture and mental health sector were invited to analyze the role of the arts as a support for the mental health and well-being of people and the community. These dialogues addressed topics such as the positive impact that the arts can have on mental health, as well as on depression and anxiety; the value of multiple art forms in the treatment of dementia and other key challenges in healthy ageing; as well as discussing improvements that the arts can make to social welfare, including reducing loneliness and isolation.

Factoría de Arte y Desarrollo have carried out an art therapy program from the Picasso Foundation | Museo Casa Natal with a group of patients with mental disorders who were being treated in the mental health unit of the Hospital Clínico de Málaga. The results obtained were largely satisfactory for all participants. Likewise, the clinicians responsible for monitoring the patients rated the experience as very positive after their active participation through their attendance at all sessions. But not only people with mental illness can benefit from developing artistic or creative activities. It has also been shown to be effective in improving the quality of life of people with social integration difficulties in general (people with disabilities, victims of abuse, inmates, etc.).

The seedbad was born as an initiative to strengthen interdisciplinary work at the Javeriana University and explore alternatives for understanding and unconventional intervention in processes related to well-being, life and health. Its objective is to build a space for the creation of interdisciplinary knowledge through learning, making it explore mainly the relationship between the humanities and health through the appropriation of qualitative research tools, research based on the arts, contemplative methods, among others. The seedbed started in March 2017 and worked with fortnightly meetings during the academic semesters. To date, it has the participation of students and graduates from the Nursing, Medicine, Anthropology, Master's in Public Health and Nursing, Medicine, Literature and Architecture professors. They carried out various activities around contact dance, sensory experience through plants, collective narratives around mourning and death, exploration of art in community mental health processes and exploration of art immersion alternatives in hospital contexts.

In the last ten years, the Complutense University of Madrid and the autonomous body of the Madrid City Council, Madrid Salud , have maintained a close collaboration through the project Art, Health and Care, highlighting the importance of using art and artistic creation at the service of health. Professionals from Madrid Salud, teachers and graduate and master students from the Faculties of Fine Arts and Education have collaborated in the project, creating a stable network of agents and shared knowledge.
To face the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and seek creative and artistic solutions hand in hand with health experts the project aimed to carry out specific training and tutoring in art, health and care for the students of the Faculty of Education in such a way that, during their internship period in schools, they can be active agents facing situations derived from Covid-19 from a creative and multidisciplinary perspective.

From 2016 The National Association of the Creative and Cultural Industries holds an annual cultural forum, a public and meaningful demonstration of dialogue and collaboration between policy makers and experts in the CCI sector. The Forum aims at promoting dialogue and cooperation between professionals and policy makers in the creative and cultural industries. The edition from 2020 of the Culture and Well-being Forum discussed the CCI's contribution to the country's prosperity, provided an analysis of the country's situation, assessed progress, outlined future perspectives, and discussed topics: culture and well-being, culture and health, culture and economy, culture and image. The Forum aimed to tackle diverse topics such as the way in which culture could help to create social connections, innovations and novel ways to solve social problems. The panelists analyzed processes, case studies or best practices from around the world. Finally, this was an opportunity to formulate questions towards the authorities.

The aim of the project is to expand the activities of the art school by organizing socio-cultural educational activities and to provide psychological support through art and music to involve people with difficulties. People who are experiencing social exclusion, exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic, living in difficult circumstances or experiencing other physical and psychological health problems need support. Representatives of Ukmergė Art School, which organizes art therapies as self-help tools, say that art does not only develop emotional intelligence and give a sense of community, but has also a healing effect.