Arts and Health Talk

Contemporary British culture is wrought with seemingly intractable economic conflicts and social inequities, particularly in the areas of education, health and the arts. Despite poor prospects of future financial rewards, young people still choose creative arts degrees all over the UK. Although the values that bring young people into arts education – meaning, self-expression, play, social justice, non-conformity, social critique, improving mental health – have all been embedded in the arts since the beginning of 20th century, they fall outside the government’s metrics of the socio-economic good. Paradoxically, as regional arts programs struggle to survive, the government’s Creative Health agenda is gaining national momentum. Is there a way for us to revitalise the 19th century ideal of art as an “education of the senses”, reconnect it to the broader project of improving individual and social wellbeing though increased sensory awareness and embodied cognition, and align it more closely with Creative Health?

Arts and Health Research Group Talks Program
Dr John Cussans
Senior Lecturer Fine Art
Course Leader BA F​ine Art and BA Fine Art with Psychology
Leader of the Arts and Health Research Group