Active participation in organised youth arts activities is generally considered 'good' for young peoples' social and emotional wellbeing. There is, however, less known about how youth arts participation helps to create wellbeing benefits. This paper details a retrospective narrative study that sought to understand not only what wellbeing benefits 17 participants attributed to youth arts activity, but more specifically, how these outcomes occurred. The concept of liminality, within a spaces of wellbeing approach, is used as a framework to explore and understand participant' stories of their time at Corrugated Iron Youth Arts, in Darwin, Australia. A pattern of transformation involving three phases emerged through an analysis of participant stories. This involved (1) joining in, (2) developing skills and gaining experience, and (3) becoming a 'real' performer. These stages have strong resonance with contemporary conceptualisations of liminal experiences, and provide further evidence for the value of youth arts activity as a space for the development of social and emotional wellbeing.


The child welfare system is characterized by fixed power structures, coercion and hierarchies that privilege the perspectives of a select few. These oppressive aspects of the system quelch youth voice and others' voices, especially those with lived experience, frequently omitting them from case- and system-level decisions. Acknowledging the empowering potential of creative and arts-based research, this study used poetic inquiry with youth in or formerly in foster care, parent partners and professionals working in child welfare, inviting them to reimagine how the system could support youth in foster care towards thriving. Through seven poetry focus groups, 41 participants wrote individual and relational poems. Analyses focused on how symbols were used and their suggestions for revisioning child welfare. Seven themes identified the types of symbols used in poems: 1) Nature/Natural Phenomena, 2) Human Body/Senses, 3) Actions, 4) Physical Objects, 5) Paperwork, Cases, Bureaucracy, 6) Connectedness/Family and 7) Strong Emotions. Beyond demonstrating a novel arts-based method, findings offer a new, creative space for understanding the foster care system. Symbols were powerful and cut across life experiences and identities. A key implication pointed to using symbolic language to aid the work of revisioning child welfare towards humanistic and embodied approaches, social justice and well-being.


Background: Starting in 2013, the Mental Health Youth Action Board, made up of 15 teens ages 15-18, was created to advise a large children's hospital on improvements in mental health care and produce social action projects to impact community perceptions of mental health.Methods: This participatory qualitative case study explored the experiences of 14 young people who participated in the Mental Health Youth Action Board between 2013 and 2016.Results: There were two higher order themes: process and outcomes. Process-related themes included how this was a unique leadership experience, the importance of the arts-based approach, and value of the intentionally constructed storytelling process. These processes led to youth growing as advocates for mental health.Conclusions: Arts-based approaches to social action that allow youth to share personal experiences of stigmatized topics can promote healing and support their growth as leaders.


Although arts-based programming is shown to positively influence the development of youth exposed to adversity, little is known about the influence these programs have on formerly incarcerated emerging adult Black men enrolled in an alternative school. With educational resilience as a guiding framework, this qualitative case study explored the ways in which an arts-based program in the context of an alternative school designed for formerly incarcerated young people facilitates emerging adult Black men's academic and social-emotional development. Data collection consisted of observations and interviews with school personnel and formerly incarcerated Black male students. Analysis and interpretation included a range of inductive techniques (coding, constant comparisons, and memoing). Results indicate that offering arts-based activities fostered an environment where students could build caring and supportive relationships with peers and school personnel. Instructional practices that integrated music and poetry provided meaningful opportunities for the young men to participate, which appeared to enhance their motivation and attitudes (self, others, learning, and school) and academic self-efficacy, and lessen their psychological and emotional distress. Study findings provide insights into how an arts-based program in an alternative school can improve healthy development and academic achievement among formerly incarcerated young Black men transitioning into adulthood.


Poetry is a timeless, valued form of ex- pression. For youth whose voices have been largely ignored in an adult-driven world, poetry acts as a site for critical transitions from home to school and the places in between. Poetry offers a place where youth can be them- selves and embrace their own experiences. It is a place that promotes what McCormick (2000) called an "aesthetic safety zone" to claim and de- velop a sense of being. With the advent of hip hop and the proliferation of spoken-word poetry in the past decades, poetry interventions in and outside of classrooms have innovated ways of engaging adolescent youths' interest in poetry-related activi- ties (e.g., Fisher, 2005; Jocson, 2004; Mahiri & Sablo, 1996; Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002; Weiss & Herndon, 2001). Despite this trend, more research on poetry is needed, particularly in illus- trating youths' abilities to write in relation to their literacy and social developmment.
Recent studies with emphasis on sociocultu-ral perspectives on literacy offer a framework through which to explore the salience of poetry in youths' lives. In this article, I draw from works  within New Literacy Studies to provide a glimpse of urban high school youths' experiences in a unique program called Poetry for the People (P$P). My purpose is to identify some of the ways in which this experience was valuable for students in gaining writing skills, confidence in learning, self-awareness and social conscience. The import of poetry for young people's identities, in particular emergency identities as empowered citizens and writers, examined within the context of P4P advances current persepctives on how poetry can be used for effective writing instruction in and out of schools.


This study examines the interrelationships among art, play and “real” life, as perceived by young children. Twenty-one children aged four and five in their first year of formal schooling in Ireland, were observed during art-related play activities and classes over a period of four months in 2004. Research data consisted of art works (both original and photographed), field notes, video recordings of children' behaviours and mini-interviews with the children. Data analysis revealed the multifaceted interrelationships between art, play and real life among the children. All children showed evidence of intertwining art, play and “real” life experiences in all strands of the visual arts curriculum. Individual differences in “cognitive style” unrelated to gender also emerged. Some worked quietly concentrating completely on the process and product in hand while others verbalised what was going on as they worked. Just over half of the children extended their actual experiences into the realm of fantasy in their art and play while the remainder tended to be factual, depicting and re-enacting “real” life events as they experienced them. These findings have educational
implications as young children' artistic play activities are an important element
in pre-service teacher education and in the teaching of Visual Arts at the
Primary school level


Indigenous communities in Canada share a common history of colonial oppression. As a result, many Indigenous populations are disproportionately burdened with poor health outcomes, including HIV. Conventional public health approaches have not yet been successful in reversing this trend. For this study, a team of community- and university-based researchers came together to imagine new possibilities for health promotion with Indigenous youth. A strengths-based approach was taken that relied on using the energies and talents of Indigenous youth as a leadership resource. Art-making workshops were held in six different Indigenous communities across Canada in which youth could explore the links between community, culture, colonization, and HIV. Twenty artists and more than 85 youth participated in the workshops. Afterwards, youth participants reflected on their experiences in individual in-depth interviews. Youth participants viewed the process of making art as fun, participatory, and empowering; they felt that their art pieces instilled pride, conveyed information, raised awareness, and constituted a tangible achievement. Youth participants found that both the process and products of arts-based methods were important. Findings from this project support the notion that arts-based approaches to the development of HIV-prevention knowledge and Indigenous youth leadership are helping to involve a diverse cross-section of youth in a critical dialogue about health. Arts-based approaches represent one way to assist with decolonization for future generations.


Understanding the relationships between trauma and oppression in the lives of Black youth is an important area of study because it redefines trauma and its effect on their healthy development into adulthood. While deconstructing how Black youth experience trauma holds a significance, it is also imperative to consider how this group heals from trauma. Using the Social Justice Youth Development (SJYD) framework and the radical healing process as a guide, this research study was created to conduct an in-depth examination of a youth development program that employed artistic expression as a tool to facilitate radical healing in the lives of Black youth. Qualitative case study methods were used to address the question: How does a 5-week youth development program as a whole facilitate the radical healing process through its four components (care, critical consciousness, community, and culture)? Findings from this case study showed that Black youth enrolled in a summer arts program in South Dallas, Texas navigate oppressive forces in their community but experience a radical healing process in what I name a 'healing space of refuge.' This 'healing space of refuge' provided youth with 1) adults that enact radical care for their personal and community well-being, 2) a space to celebrate their cultural identity, and 3) a culture of critical thinking that assisted them in building their critical consciousness. Specific program processes related to radical care were displayed through development of familial relationships, program resistance against institutional oppression, and the adoption of survival tactics. Processes related to creating a space that celebrated the cultural identity of Black youth were displayed through an adoption of critical pedagogical methods and collective actions that celebrated Black youth identity. Processes related to creating a culture of critical thinking to develop critical consciousness were displayed through the use of instances of misunderstandings to collectively cultivate critical thinking skills and the program outcomes of Black youth gaining knowledge of history, knowledge of self, an understanding of community, and an understanding of social justice.


In 2008, this project began with a small group of volunteers in a poor rural community in northeastern Brazil using art therapy to increase the knowledge of pregnant women about gestation, birth, and care of their babies. After positive results were seen within that community, the methodology was published as a book to be replicated in other states of Brazil. In 2010/2011, after being selected as a "Young Champions of Maternal Health" winner by Ashoka and Maternal Task Force competition, the project was adapted for the local culture in Mali and replicated in villages in West Africa with workshops using songs, poems, stories, crafts, and cinema. It continues to be implemented throughout Brazil, and since 2012, at the Institute Santos Dumont, a health, teaching, and research center in a rural area in Northeast Brazil. It is also used as a teaching strategy for students of medicine, physiotherapy, psychology, resident doctors, and multiprofessionals. It contributes to the development of attitudes, health education skills, and interprofessional education experience. It also provides information and educates groups to empower women about their health and rights to make informed choices regarding pregnancy and childbirth.


Arts and culture are increasingly part of the planning and development toolkit in the USA. Justifications for investment in the arts often center on economic development outcomes. In contrast, we propose the use of Amartya Sen' capabilities approach to human development, which asserts the importance of the freedom to achieve personal and group well-being through the creation of conditions that maximize opportunity. This paper advances the capabilities approach by exploring arts and culture engagement in three adjacent West Philadelphia neighborhoods. Amid conditions of material deprivation and pressure from gentrification, neighborhood residents strongly articulate their belief in arts and culture as a strategy of community empowerment. The capabilities approach offers planners an opportunity to reevaluate the way they incorporate arts and culture in their efforts. We conclude that arts-based development should employ comprehensive place-based strategies, with social and spatial justice as guides to practice and primary metrics for success.


The Program: The AmeriCorps ArtsUSF program was a federally funded outreach program that provided hands-on arts experience to underserved children in culturally and economically deprived communities in and around a large metropolitan area. The project had two components: Getting Things Done (GTD) and Member Development (MD). Objectives: The goals of GTD were to help improve the communities' self-image, stability, and culture by providing accessible, safe, and affordable cultural activities and programs. The goals of MD were to help the AmeriCorps volunteer artist-teacher members develop an awareness of societal problems, teaching and class management skills, and to become responsible citizens. Methods: GTD goals were measured using a quantitative survey instrument developed for the program. Pre (November) and post (May) data were compared using paired one-tailed t-tests to see if there were significant changes. MD outcomes were summarized from content analysis of member journals. Results: Data showed progress in all measured items, particularly, integrating arts to life, group problem-solving skills, attitude on diversity, and attitude on being-kind-to-each-other. Factor analysis results demonstrated strong connections among arts skills, expression through the arts, art appreciation skills, and integrating arts to life. There was an association among class learning skills, attitude on diversity, and attitude on being kind-to-each-other. Independent problem-solving skills were associated with expressive skills through the arts, integrating arts to life, attitude on diversity, and class learning skills. In the post data, independent problem-solving skills were further related to anti-drug, alcohol, and smoking attitude, and art skills. Members expressed that AmeriCorps ArtsUSF experience provided a life-changing impact on them. Seeing the effects of their input on other, they realized that one way of achieving the American dream was by helping others. Conclusion: The program gave a sense of pride and ownership to the underserved communities, and the experience gave the artist-members the confidence and self-esteem necessary to pursue their own life' goals. Novelty: Federally funded, community-wide supported program with novel program and curriculum. Improvement: The initial phase could be better organized and more affective narratives could be added in the survey instrument.


Early childhood is an important period for development. Parents play an important role in structuring children's physical and psychosocial environments. Much remains unknown about the best methods for engaging parents in health promotion programs. It is critical that programs meet the needs of the families while encouraging the use of positive parenting strategies. The article describes how one pediatrician used the American Academy of Pediatrics' Community Access to Child Health grant program to develop and implement The Arts of Parenting program with input from predominantly low-income families. A community mapping and needs assessment was conducted as well as stakeholder interviews and parent focus groups to determine the needs of the families with preschoolers. Family programs that are centered in play and the arts provide families with a supportive environment in which to engage their children and learn about their child's socioemotional development, and build a network with neighborhood peers.


In this paper, we offer a conceptual mapping of healing centered organizing and argue three key ideas. First, we argue that healing centered organizing is a response to decades of toxic and harmful policies that disproportionately impact low-income youth of color. Second, we offer principles of healing centered organizing and illustrate key practices across organizations in California. Research suggests that civic engagement activities like youth and community organizing contribute not only to improved academic outcomes, but also to greater social capital and higher levels of well-being for young people who are involved (Prilleltensky 2008; Prilleltensky & Nelson 2000; Prilleltensky & Prilleltensky 2006; Rogers & Terriquez 2013). Third, we offer recommendations to social justice practitioners and philanthropic stakeholders about key supports required to expand and strengthen healing centered organizing efforts.


This literature review was developed to synthesize the research surrounding communitybased art therapy with youth who reside in inner city communities of color. Youth of color in inner city communities face a number of different challenges such as low socioeconomic status, social inequality, discrimination, and lack of political representation. There is currently little research on the impact of art therapy and expressive arts interventions with this population, however; these interventions have shown to be effective in a number of different areas. Literature revealed that community-based art therapy with inner city youth of color has shown to increase self-esteem, decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improve communication and community relationships. The aim of this research is to use the findings from the literature to improve awareness about community-based art therapy with this population with the intention that more research and interventions will be conducted in the future.


Background: Visually impaired children encounter some challenges for their oral health. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of oral health education using Audio Tactile Performance (ATP) technique alone, ATP combined with oral health education for mothers, and ATP along with art package on the oral health status of visually impaired children.

Materials and methods: This cluster, randomized trial, included visually impaired children from preschool to 10th grade (32 classes, n = 200), in Tehran, Iran, in 2018-2019. A questionnaire was filled out through face to face interviews at baseline regarding age, gender, status of visual impairment, and place of residence. The Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and Bleeding on Probing (BOP) were examined afterward. Classes were randomly assigned to three groups through simple randomization: 1. Art group (ATP, game-based, and music-based education (11 classes, n = 66); 2. Mothers group (children received ATP and their mothers received education by telephone (10 classes, n = 73); and 3. Control group (children received ATP (11 classes, n = 61). Children received reinforcement after 1 and 2 weeks. Follow-up oral examinations were performed after 1 and 2 months by a blind calibrated examiner. Descriptive statistics were performed using Chi-Square, and ANOVA tests by SPSS (version 22). In analytic statistics, two-level mixed-effects models for BOP and OHI-S were fitted using the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) version 9.4. Both models fitted with the grouping variable and time (baseline, 1, and 2 months after interventions) as the fixed effects.

Results: The mean age (SD) of the children was 12.29 (3.45) years (range: 6-17). Male children (67%) more than female children (33%) participated in the study. Also, 35.5% were blind, and 12% resided at the dormitory. The art and mothers groups had no statistically significant difference compared with the control group, in terms of OHI-S (P = 0.92, and 0.39, respectively) and BOP (OR = 0.64, and 0.66, respectively). The time effect was statistically significant in both BOP and OHI-S models (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions: ATP technique is an effective method to improve the oral health status of visually impaired school children. Oral health promotion programs can be done using this method to tackle oral hygiene problems in visually impaired children.


Native American communities work to preserve and enhance traditional culture in urban and rural environments through an emphasis on strengthening sovereignty and self-determination in order to protect and promote culture and arts programming, giving opportunities for community members and students. Interventions for youth often utilize evidence-based knowledge systems that aim at knowledge and skill building to empower pathways to adulthood. Indigenous community participatory strategies bring stakeholders together in synergy, creating empowerment interventions for youth using culture framed by disparate knowledge systems engaging youth. Canoe Culture utilizes story, song, dance, food sharing, carving canoe paddles and dugout canoes, establishing strength from the ancestors. Exemplified by the canoe culture, each unique Tribal culture is a suitable foundation for adaptable intervention curriculum, providing an intersection of culture and youth well-being. This dissertation explores Tribal adaptations of curriculum such as those derived from the program: Healing of the Canoe (HOC). Qualitative data from structured interviews illuminates experiences from Tribal adoption and implementation adapting the curriculum to individual unique cultures and communities. I investigate the ontological divide of disparate knowledge systems utilizing an evidence-based Implementation Science and Indigenous Science in order to create effective synergies with adaptable culture-infused interventions for Native youth empowerment (Cajete, 2000). Specifically I seek to extract meaning from how Native American culture, curriculum and community play a role in the adoption of adaptable interventions for youth empowerment. I investigate how curriculum's adaptable uniqueness and community cooperation drives wellness through culture, while producing resilience, identity and protective factors for developing youth. This study will take meaning from phenomenological interviews to gain perspective of Tribal leadership's experiences while adapting unique interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)


The authors examined the effects of arts education on cognition, behavior, and brain of children. Twenty-nine nonclinical children participated in a 15-week arts education program that was composed of either creative movement or musical arts. Children completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, clinical scales, and brain magnetic resonance imaging before and after the intervention. Following program completion, performances on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Children's Depression Inventory scores, and conduct disorder scores were significantly improved. Furthermore, cortical thickness in the left postcentral gyrus and superior parietal lobule were increased, and the mean diffusivity values in the right posterior corona radiate and superior longitudinal fasciculus were decreased. Positive correlations between changes in cognitive measurements and changes in cortical thickness were observed. This preliminary study suggests a positive effect of arts education on executive functions in association with brain changes. However, these findings must be interpreted with caution due to the noncomparative study design.


Art therapy has been widely offered to reduce symptoms of psychological disturbance. Pooled evidence about its effectiveness in epidemic contexts, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has not been yet established. This study reviewed the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of art therapy on children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and past epidemics. We searched PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, CENTRAL (Cochrane Library), and CINAHL for articles on art therapy during COVID-19. Included studies reported improvements in measures of mental health, sleep quality, and psychological well-being in children with or without disabilities in the epidemic context. Results also showed that art therapy was highly feasible and accepted by children and adolescents as well as their families during epidemics in reviewed studies. Art therapy can be effective at improving various aspects of mental health, sleep quality, and psychological well-being. More empirical evidence is needed with larger sample sizes and longer duration of interventions.


Background Dramatherapy, a creative form of psychotherapy, may be a useful treatment for child and adolescent mental health. As there is a growing evidence base, this systematic review sought to identify, describe and evaluate dramatherapy with children and adolescents who were experiencing emotional distress (anxiety, depression and trauma) in order to inform future research in this area. Methods Seven databases (PsychInfo, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, EMBASE and Cochrane) were searched for peer‐reviewed articles exploring dramatherapy as a treatment for child and adolescent emotional distress. Hand searches of relevant journals were also conducted. Two reviewers coded articles for eligibility and independently appraised papers using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools. Details relating to intervention and participant characteristics were extracted and, where data were available, effect sizes on measures relating to emotional distress were calculated. Results Fifteen papers were included. Studies showed that dramatherapy was often delivered in schools (46%) and clinical settings (20%) and was more frequently delivered to adolescents (53%) (>11 years) than children (26%) (8-11 years). Dramatherapy was used as a treatment for diagnostically heterogeneous groups (40%), for emotional and behavioural difficulties (33%) and following a shared, traumatic, experience (20%). Seven papers reported relevant quantitative data however, just three of these studies were controlled and none were blinded. Pre‐to‐post intervention effect sizes ranged from d = 0.17 to d > 2 yet samples were small and participant response to treatment was not always consistent. The largest effects were seen in dramatherapy employed following trauma and in clinical settings. Medium to large effects were also seen in early intervention school‐based dramatherapy. Conclusion Despite promising results with regards to the treatment of child and adolescent emotional distress, the evidence base for dramatherapy is small and methodologically flawed. Larger, methodologically robust trials should test the efficacy of dramatherapy in future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)


Objective: To evaluate the contribution of arts education to health promotion of adolescents in situations of urban social vulnerability.

Method: Participatory evaluative research, with a qualitative approach, using as a reference the theoretical constructs of Paulo Freire's Conscientization and the Empowerment Evaluation as a method of collecting with adolescents and teachers of an arts education program in the field of the Family Health Strategy.

Results: Participants constructed a collective mission that represented the concept of adolescent health promotion. Arts education activities were prioritized and ranked with a mission focus, and over a three-month period, the program implemented health goals through art. In the reevaluation, the group presented a broad look at the implementation of activities and self-determination for change.

Final considerations: Arts education is a potential space for nurses to act in the conscientization and empowerment of adolescent health in Primary Health Care.


This research examines how youth in arts and leadership programs develop skills for organizing actions over time to achieve goals. Ethnically diverse youth (ages 13-21) in 11 high-quality urban and rural programs were interviewed as they carried out projects. Qualitative analyses of 712 interviews with 108 youth yielded preliminary grounded theory about youth' development of strategic thinking, defined as use of dynamic systems reasoning to anticipate real-word scenarios and plan work. Strategic thinking appeared to develop through youth' creative engagement with tactical challenges in the work and feedback from the work' outcomes. Program advisors supported this development by giving youth control and by providing nondirective assistance when needed.


Social work is grounded with an emphasis on promoting the well-being being of individuals and families with an explicit recognition of how the environment plays a significant role in the unfolding of well-being. Unfortunately, the profession' commitment to maintaining the infrastructure for social work research, education, and practice that helps students and professionals focus on the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems of the living sometimes feels superficial. These trends have made it difficult to realize the effectiveness and promise of integrating creative arts into social work practice. The present article discusses how social work efforts with creative arts will have limited influence if their context, underlying assumptions, and framing are misaligned with the experiential realities of clients; if gatekeeping is too rigid or biased to effectively grow the artsbased infrastructure; and if the underlying assumptions that define well-being outcomes are proportionately narrow, deficit oriented, and short-term focused.


Corporate strategies that target children are controversial given the link between food marketing and childhood obesity. This case study explored diverse stakeholders' accountability expectations and actions for industry policies and practices that used popular cartoon brand mascots and media characters to promote food products to American children. We reviewed five electronic databases and Internet sources between January 2000 and January 2015. Evidence (n = 90) was selected based upon the Institute of Medicine's LEAD principles (i.e. locate, evaluate, assemble evidence to inform decisions) and organized into two tables: peer-reviewed articles, books and grey-literature reports (n = 34); and media stories, news releases and public testimony (n = 56). A four-step accountability framework was used to evaluate accountability structures. The results showed that moderate progress was achieved by stakeholders to take and share the account, limited progress to hold industry and government to account, and limited progress to strengthen accountability structures. Between 2006 and 2015, the U.S. Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative lacked clear policies for companies to use brand mascots and media characters on food packages, in merchandising, and as toy giveaways and premiums. Government, industry and civil society can substantially strengthen their accountability for these food marketing practices to ensure healthy food environments for children.


Objective: In the interest of finding "teaching moments in film" for psychiatric education and education on child development, the author describes an approach to analyzing Disney--and potentially other children's films--based on specifically observing family structure at the beginning and ending of the story, developmental stage and gender of the protagonist, the developmental crisis, and the external change agent and/or stressor.

Methods: The author considered a convenience sample of ten popular Disney films.

Results: A wide variety of family structures and developmental stages and challenges were observed in the reviewed films.

Conclusions: A matrix approach such as the one illustrated may help psychiatric educators to select effective teaching moments from Disney and other children's films.


Arts programming has been touted as a way for youth to learn new skills that will increase youth resilience in stressful environments; improve social and emotional skills and abilities, as well as possibly increase cognitive functions. While there have been a number of studies conducted to examine these relationships, most had a research design that had a number of confounding factors. This study was one of the few that had a comparison group that provided for a stronger research design. The participants attended a program that served as a diversion program for arrested youth and a prevention program for family, friends, and neighbors, of the arrested youth. Previous analyses indicated a pre post difference in mental health and social skills and an impact analysis indicated a very low recidivism rate for the participants relative to other programs. The findings of this study, in which trends, but few significant results were seen, indicated that art programming' impact on social skills was modest when participating in this relatively short 8 week program. A few significant results were observed that indicated the program had more impact on females. Other perspectives should be examined in order to develop a model of the impact of art programming on a youth' long-term behavior.


Using data collected from random samples of individuals in rural communities across Texas, we tested the following eight hypotheses: (1) satisfaction with arts/cultural activities is independently and positively associated with community attachment and community satisfaction; (2) there is a positive association between perceived community capacity for the arts and satisfaction with local arts/cultural activities; (3) there is a positive association between satisfaction with local arts/cultural activities and community attachment; (4) there is a positive association between satisfaction with local arts/cultural activities and community satisfaction; (5) there is a positive association between community attachment and arts participation; (6) there is a positive association between community satisfaction and arts participation; (7) there is a positive association between satisfaction with arts/cultural activities and arts participation; and. (8) there is a positive association between arts participation and community-oriented action. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses revealed support for seven of the eight hypotheses. The only hypothesis these data failed to support was the one which stated that there is a positive association between community satisfaction and arts participation. The findings also indicate that the variables of age, gender, and size of place are significantly related to one or more of the dependent variables. Possible implications of these results for community developers, public leaders, and other practitioners are addressed. Recommendations for incorporating the arts into community development strategies are also advanced.


California policy-makers clearly have ambitious goals for arts education. However, beyond developing rigorous standards and calling for instruction in the arts as part of the required course of study, California historically has done little to develop, implement, and sustain comprehensive arts programs that provide all students with access to and opportunities in the arts. Moreover, until now, the state has lacked comprehensive, reliable information to indicate whether it is meeting its goals for arts instruction. This study has sought to fill that information gap by taking stock of arts education policies and practices: understanding where schools' arts programs are relative to state goals, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the systemic support for these programs, and identifying ways in which state and local policy-makers might improve conditions for arts education. The study also provides a baseline for examining the effects on student access to arts instruction of the new state funds that have been made available.


 “A CULTURE OF HEALTH,” WROTE ERIN HAGAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION' EVIDENCE FOR ACTION INITIATIVE, “IS ONE IN WHICH GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING FLOURISH ACROSS GEOGRAPHIC, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND SOCIAL SECTORS. The path to achieving a Culture of Health encourages cross-sector collaboration, and recognizes the impact of social and economic determinants on health outcomes.”
“Health” can mean many things: exercise is healthy, a particular person enjoys good health, a certain clinic provides health care to patients, and so on. It' a personal as well as a social goal.
But when the word “culture” is used to describe such a goal, many things are implied. Culture is always collective, the matrix of signs, symbols, customs, expressions, and artifacts that contains and sustains social relationships, enabling us to communicate, connect, and collaborate. Culture transforms a crowd into a community, people, or society. In the USDAC' glossary, we define it this way:
Culture in its broadest, anthropological sense includes all that is fabricated, endowed, designed, articulated, conceived or directed by human beings, as opposed to what is given in nature. Culture includes both material elements (buildings, artifacts, etc.) and immaterial ones (ideology, value systems, languages).
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation articulated ten underlying principles encoded in its work toward a culture of health.
They make clear how much common knowledge, common purpose, and collaboration are necessary to the culture shift that achieving a cultural of health requires. People need to value not only their own immediate interests, not only the interests of the communities in which they take part, but to appreciate and pursue the interests of every person and community: “No one is excluded.”
The change requires understanding and action. There are both personal and collective stories that shape our understanding of health. At one end of the story spectrum, it' a dog-eat-dog world: good health is a virtue and a privilege. It takes hard work and discipline to make healthy choices about things like diet, exercise, and preventive care; and the people whose diligent pursuit of profit yields abundant resources are most entitled to purchase expensive remedies when illness emerges.
At the other end, health is a human right. It is the result of social policy as much as individual opportunity and choice; to achieve it, society must promote access to clean air, water, healthy working conditions, and wholesome food; and provide the best care for all, regardless of socioeconomic status.
WHEN THE TASK IS TO CHANGE THE STORY, THE SKILLS OF STORY-WORKERS—WHICH IS TO SAY ARTISTS—ARE PARAMOUNT. Not just any artist, though. The necessary capacities are most developed by skilled artists whose work is rooted in community and who co-create with groups facing common conditions or embracing common aspirations:
• Deep listening and creative strategies to unearth the parables, metaphors, and narratives that shape people' relationship to health;
• Approachesthatgivefullvaluetoourabilitytorespondto threats to health and well-being not only through medical protocols, but through engaging creativity, emotion, and imagination; and
• Artistic skill to return those stories to their creators and to the larger society in ways that engage empathy and spark the desire and social imagination to change what' not working.


This article examines some of the factors that contribute to the success of art as a therapeutic tool with children with autism and considers some of the possible reasons why art therapy is not more in evidence in our schools. The article continues by outlining the skills that experienced teachers of children with autism can bring to the therapeutic setting. The article concludes with suggestions for future research in this field.


This book features effective artistic practices to improve literacy and language skills for emergent bilinguals in PreK-12 schools. Including insights from key voices from the field, this book highlights how artistic practices can increase proficiency in emergent language learners and students with limited access to academic English. Challenging current prescriptions for teaching English to language learners, the arts-integrated framework in this book is grounded in a sense of student and teacher agency and offers key pedagogical tools to build upon students' sociocultural knowledge and improve language competence and confidence. Offering rich and diverse examples of using the arts as a way of talking, this volume invites teacher educators, teachers, artists, and researchers to reconsider how to fully engage students in their own learning and best use the resources within their own multilingual educational settings and communities.


This report describes an art-based intervention program with at-risk youth that was inspired by the Project Self- Discovery model (Milkman, Wanberg, & Robinson, 1996). Twelve middle-school students from a small city in a mid- Atlantic state participated in the program. The program goals included making art in order to empower the participants through self-expression and community building. Complete data were obtained for six of the participants. The probabilities (not chance) that the program produced positive trends in change ranged from 70% to 80%. Two dimensions— attitudes and psychological adjustment—reached the highest probabilities (p = .078). The small sample size and the brief nature of the intervention (10 hours total) limited both the ability to generalize and the statistical power of the analysis.


Objectives: This article seeks to demonstrate the impact of distributing boxes of art resources and guided activities for vulnerable parents and infants to do together at home.

Study design: Designed in conjunction with the local arts centre and the psychology team at the University of Dundee, the art boxes were a response to planned face-to-face art interventions with families being cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. The aim of the art boxes is to encourage parents to make art together with their infants, fostering connection through playful, creative shared experiences. This research is currently being expanded to reach out to new families through referrals from health visitors, family nurses, and charity partners.

Methods: Data is being collected on how the art boxes are experienced by families using a mixed-methods approach. Families complete feedback cards (online, or using the stamped addressed card included in the box) rating their experience on quantitative scales and providing open comments. Visual data are gathered through parents sharing images with us on social media. An initial sample of 10 participants has been interviewed using semistructured interviews, allowing more in-depth qualitative understanding of their experiences. These preliminary findings are discussed here.

Results: The thematic analysis of initial interviews provided a rich picture of the disconnection families experienced during lockdown, why art boxes may be beneficial to parental well-being, and the mechanisms by which the boxes may help to develop connections for the parent and infant together.

Conclusions: Preliminary findings show parents reporting feeling more confident and undertaking new activities which they plan to continue. This was of particular importance during lockdown where parents report opportunities for different experiences being more limited. Parent's describe positive playful interactions and reported improvements to their own well-being from doing creative activities together with their child. Analysis of these initial interviews gives a framework of barriers and supports to connection which highlights how art boxes can facilitate connectedness between dyads with the potential to strengthen attachments.


Young people represent a powerful force for social change, and they have an important role to play in climate change responses. However, empowering young people to be “systems changers” is not straightforward. It is particularly challenging within educational systems that prioritize instrumental learning over critical thinking and creative actions. History has shown that by creating novel spaces for reflexivity and experimentation, the arts have played a role in shifting mindsets and opening up new political horizons. In this paper, we explore the role of art as a driver for societal transformation in a changing climate and consider how an experiment with change can facilitate reflection on relationships between individual change and systems change. Following a review of the literature on transformations, transformative learning and the role of art, we describe an experiment with change carried out with students at an Art High School in Lisbon, Portugal, which involved choosing one sustainable behavior and adopting it for 30 days. A transformative program encouraged regular reflection and group discussions. During the experiment, students started developing an art project about his or her experience with change. The results show that a transformative learning approach that engages students with art can support critical thinking and climate change awareness, new perspectives and a sense of empowerment. Experiential, arts-based approaches also have the potential to create direct and indirect effects beyond the involved participants. We conclude that climate-related art projects can serve as more than a form of science communication. They represent a process of opening up imaginative spaces where audiences can move more freely and reconsider the role of humans as responsible beings with agency and a stake in sustainability transformations.


Background: Set in the Pacific nation of Samoa, this study contributes knowledge about art, mental health and trauma recovery for people within a non-Western context. A total of 22 youth and young adults from two residential services participated in a six month weekly art programme set within a health promotion context.

Methods: Focus group discussions with staff and consumers explored the participant experience of art making. Focus group data were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).

Results: The study revealed art making in the recovery context supported enhanced levels of self-awareness, a sense of identity, belonging and of being contributors to society.

Conclusions: Making art in the group supported participants' sense of voice, empowerment, agency and the capacity to make a social contribution within their respective communities during a period of dislocation from the village and extended family.


Homelessness among youth is a serious societal problem in the United States. Treatment efforts have approached the problem from a damage model that focuses on pathology and deficits instead of strengthening coping skills and resiliency. This study utilized both quantitative (N=212) and qualitative (n=3) measures to examine the function of creativity and art making with respect to resiliency in homeless youth who were attending a drop-in art center. Quantitative methods identified a strong correlation between an individual's engagement in creative activity and his or her life achievement. Individual stories derived from interviews and drawings illustrate how participants valued the role of art in making healthy lifestyle choices. Creativity may be a critical component of resiliency in the lives of homeless youth.


This article describes the theory and practice of Art Therapy Connection (ATC), an inner city, yearlong school art therapy program in Chicago, IL, for students identified as being at risk of failing grades 3-12. The ATC program helps to address the mental health needs of students living in impoverished communities and the constant threats they experience on a daily basis. It utilizes an Adlerian art therapy approach, with an emphasis on developing group identity, group cohesion, and cooperation. In turn, a feeling of belonging and trust can be established through social interest so that students feel encouraged to stay in school and succeed. This article explains the program's goals and objectives, typical art directives, and informal outcomes.


Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth highlights the paradigm shift to treating children and adolescents as "at-promise" rather than "at-risk." By utilizing a strength-based model that moves in opposition to pathology, this volume presents a client-allied modality wherein youth are given the opportunity to express emotions that can be difficult to convey using words. Working internationally with diverse groups of young people grappling with various forms of trauma, 30 contributing therapists share their processes, informed by current understandings of neurobiology, attachment theory, and developmental psychology. In addition to guiding principles and real-world examples, also included are practical directives, strategies, and applications. Together, this compilation highlights the promise of healing through the creative arts in the face of oppression.


This article describes a 12-week intervention program for Syrian refugee youth who have lived in the U.S. for approximately one year. The purpose of this study was to identify and develop art therapy interventions that would reduce stress and severity of trauma-related psychopathology while providing coping skills for youth aged 17 and under. Psychological questionnaire data were collected to obtain subjective and objective changes in trauma-related symptoms over the course of the art therapy program. The findings incited a large statistically significant effect of art therapy on posttraumatic stress and separation anxiety (p = .05; d >.8) compared to no treatment controls, and moderate effects of art therapy on anxiety, panic disorder, and GAD (d >.5) compared to no treatment controls. The reduction in stress was reflected behaviorally in participants' positive affect, increased interest in art activities and increased coping (as evidenced through interaction with media, problem solving, participant initiated coping strategies and social support). The paper includes a review of relevant literature, description of select interventions, and recommendations for future work in art therapy with refugees.


The TaMHS (Targeted Mental Health in Schools) project was part of a national Department of Health initiative developed out of the desire
to encourage innovation and whole school approaches supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of young people.
In Nottinghamshire eighteen schools were selected to take part. Each school used an audit tool to identify factors which raised or lowered emotional health and wellbeing in their school. Many of the schools identified physical environment as a de-motivating factor. Two of the three secondary schools had been part of BSF (Building Schools for the Future,
a national programme seeking to rebuild or remodel all secondary schools in England, creating schools 'fit for the 21st century'). BSF had been abandoned by the new government in May 2010 despite a large scale investment in planning and preparation by staff and pupils. These schools in particular wished to harness some of the ideas already created by pupils about how they could improve their environment.
With this in mind, the TaMHS project managers worked with colleagues in Nottinghamshire County Council' Arts Service to commission City Arts, a local participatory arts organisation with many years of experience in the field of arts and health, to deliver projects in three secondary schools and one primary school.
The TaMHS projects were required to implement an emotional health and wellbeing strategy across three waves of intervention, prescribed by national government:
Wave one -
whole school training and approaches
Wave two -
targeted interventions with vulnerable individuals
Wave three -
therapeutic interventions.
The Nottinghamshire arts projects were commissioned specifically with the aims
of simultaneously enhancing the physical environment of the schools and promoting social inclusion, thus promoting the health and wellbeing both of the individual children selected to take part in the projects and
the wellbeing of all members of the school community.
Within the overall evaluation of the Nottinghamshire TaMHS programme the arts projects evaluated extremely well. Their success led to an investigation of the appropriateness of using similar projects within CaMHS and raised further issues about how such work is evaluated so as to demonstrate its efficacy
as a non-stigmatising and inclusive method
of promoting emotional health and wellbeing. Similar interventions have subsequently been used within Nottinghamshire County CAMHS District emotional health and wellbeing teams.


City leaders have an opportunity to critically engage with community-rooted artists and cultural organizations to orient arts and culture efforts toward communities' most pressing issues. Through cultural planning analysis of three peer cities — Houston, Denver and San Antonio — this report shows how art can be used in order to promote positive neighborhood change, including equity of access to resources and programs, inclusive planning processes and implementation of new strategies to promote inclusivity and maximize economic impact. Investing in arts and culture across neighborhoods, race and income is a matter of cultural equity. Leaders in the arts ecosystem increasingly recognize the fact that access to quality cultural offerings and the ability to design and implement them should not be limited by identity, socioeconomic status or neighborhood.


The Asia Society and its team of collaborators undertook this project to investigate evolving trends in art making and arts presenting within communities that historically have not been well understood or acknowledged within the non-profit arts sector. Commissioning circumscribed field research on a small, but diverse set of artistic forms and practices, Asia Society sought to uncover, and to initiate a broader dialogue on, the creative and cultural realities of artists in communities that are often considered on the margins of the cultural mainstream in the United States.
These eight case studies and two articles dealing with cross-cutting issues bring to light such key—and complex—concepts as tradition, community, innovation, identity, and cultural transmission, and how they are understood and used within specific communities. They also examined how artistic activities are supported and sustained, who inside and outside of specific communities facilitates this, and how networks are built that inform the ongoing development of these artistic practices in the United States.
Methodology
To begin, the Asia Society chose ethnography as the research methodology. We assembled an advisory committee of practitioners and academics from the arts, philanthropy, cultural studies, anthropology, history, and political science. They assisted the project team by helping to identify the art forms and communities to be investigated, providing input on a framework to guide the case study research, and identifying potential researchers with preexisting knowledge of targeted communities, given the relatively short timeframe for completing the research. The committee also served as reviewers of and commentators on the research itself: they gave the principal researchers feedback on their drafts, identified project through-lines and themes, and gave the project team comments on the final versions of the case studies.
The principal researchers, for the most part, were academy-trained ethnographers, though one was a non-profit arts administrator and another was an arts administrator turned academic. Not all had arts backgrounds—some came from the social sciences with deep knowledge of the characteristics or history of a particular people or community.
The advisory committee was convened twice during the course of the project: once, at its inception to identify key questions and subject matter, and comment on the framework draft; and later, in conjunction with all the principal researchers once the first drafts of the case studies were complete and had been reviewed by all. Both meetings proved quite fruitful—particularly the second meeting with all the researchers and advisors at the table. The level of discourse at that meeting was exceptionally high; questions were posed and critiques were given and received by all in a truly collaborative spirit. We received feedback from the researchers in particular on how productive it was to hear about their colleagues' preliminary findings and challenges, and that these observations served to inform the final versions of the case studies.
The Framework
As mentioned above, the Asia Society project leaders, with the assistance of the advisory committee, developed a general framework for the case studies to help the researchers navigate through some of the complexities of their subject matter and focus their investigations. The main topic areas of the framework were:
• Context and Characteristics of the Examined Community
• Description of Artistic Form(s) Under Consideration
• Activities Surrounding the Artistic Form/Group/Artist - such as performances, training,
social functions, rituals, etc.
• Support Systems Inside and Outside of the Examined Community
• Intersection with Other Sectors/Communities
Each of these topics included a number of possible parameters for the researchers to consider. The case studies, taken as an aggregate, begin to sketch out the enormous complexity and diversity of circumstances in which the arts are created and sustained. We believe that the framework was not only a helpful tool for this project, but could also be of use as a format for future studies of this kind as we build knowledge about these subject areas.

framework was not only a helpful tool for this project, but could also be of use as a format for future studies of this kind as we build knowledge about these subject areas.


The primary consequence of a diagnosis of “infantile autism” has been to focus, almost exclusively, upon a segment of the child rather than the whole person. The functions typically selected for attention reflect a “pathology perspective” which fails to capture the complexity of a human being. However, as “normality” cannot be effectively assessed without considering liability, “autism” cannot be fully understood without exploring potential. When the appropriate atmosphere is established, considerable artistic talent can be elicited in “autistic” adolescents and young adults. The art of three “autistic” young men has been selected to demonstrate-parallel to the growth of all artists-the development of a variety of personal styles each of which interprets life in a unique way. The unfolding process provides evidence of conscious intention and of increasing technical skill with the medium of paint and canvas. At the present time, these individuals exhibit a sensitive awareness of the world and an effort to communicate to others in both their paintings and their discussions with the staff. In addition, the communicative effectiveness of their compositions is apparent in the degree of interest aroused in other artists and in the wider community which has culminated in a series of public exhibits.


In his 1910 report to the Carnegie Foundation, education expert Abraham Flexner wrote, “Science and humanism form a circle, in which the lifeblood of humanity flows and intermingles.” The goal of medical education and clinical practice is to develop physicians as scientists and humanists who can inhabit both roles in pursuit of patient well-being. In its broadest definition, the medical humanities are described as an interdisciplinary field “that draws on the creative and intellectual strengths of diverse disciplines, including literature, art, creative writing, drama, film, music, philosophy, ethical decision-making, sociology and history, in pursuit of medical educational goals.”1 Beginning in 2008, this CHEST dedicated a section to poems written by physicians and patients and more recently created a new section dealing with many important aspects of the medical humanities.2 These editorial initiatives and the creative writing pieces they welcome compose part of a growing body of examples that show the potential efficacy of the medical humanities in medicine in general and critical care in particular. This piece examines what the humanities can contribute to the critical care community, describes our team' integration of the medical humanities within our critical care program, and reflects on the immeasurable impact of the medical humanities on trainees and clinicians alike.


Intervention to enhance wellbeing through participation in the creative arts has a transformative potential, but the spatialities to this are poorly theorised. The paper examines arts-based interventions in two primary schools in which small groups of children are taken out of their everyday classrooms to participate in weekly sessions. The paper argues that such intervention is usefully seen as a practice of liminality, a distinct time and space that needs careful management to realise a transformative potential. Such management involves negotiating multiple sources of tension to balance different modes of power, forms of art practices and permeability of the liminal time-space.


In the last decade, arts and culture have been placed at the center of attention when discussing economic growth. In particular, studies on the “creative class” have been using arts and culture as an important factor impacting local economies. In addition, studies on local economic development have frequently viewed universities as a major factor in economic growth. In the middle of this discussion is new economic growth via creativity, via new recipes and new combinations of local capital, and via innovation centers. Combining these disparate literatures brings to center stage both clusters of arts and culture and concentrations of research and human capital development. Hence, the focus of this paper is to analyze the dual impacts of universities and arts districts on innovation and economic growth through employment in digital media. The results indicate that cultural districts have a consistently positive effect on local digital media economic activity—employment and innovation. The same cannot be said for research universities.


The value and positive impact of arts study on children and adolescents is often self-evident to artists, musicians, and arts educators. Yet, the arts community is frequently called upon to justify the expenses of arts education by providing evidence that engaging in arts eduction and arts experiences make a meaningful, positive difference in the lives of students. The purpose of the present study was examine the value and positive impact of the arts by analyzing the cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes of adolescents who study the arts in comparison with their non-arts peers using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (“Add Health”). Importantly, this study was constructed recognizing that there are certain, measurable pre-existing differences between those adolescents who do and do not choose to study the arts in schools, and these differences were statistically controlled in the analyses.


Social and emotional learning is a topic of increasing focus in the education sector. Though definitions and terminology vary, at its core
this trend reflects an increased interest among educators, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders in students' development of individual and interpersonal skills beyond the realm of academic achievement.
Across existing research literature and among arts educators there is widespread belief that artistic disciplines including music, dance, theatre, visual
arts, literary arts, and media arts have a positive
effect on children' and adolescents' social-emotional development. This project investigates the relationship between arts education and social-emotional learning and develops a theory of action describing the nature of that relationship.
This project consists of two components: a review of literature on this topic and an interview-based fieldwork component with educators, administrators, students, and parents in Chicago Public Schools. Our literature review highlights the strength of the research into arts education and social-emotional learning with regard to focused, qualitative case studies and the gaps with regard to experimental or randomized control trials. Combining this arts-specific research with multidisciplinary literature
on child and adolescent development and insights from our fieldwork interviews, we propose a theory of action that describes how arts learning experiences have the potential to promote young people' development of social-emotional competencies.
Our theory of action starts from the premise that each large-scale art education process (e.g., taking piano lessons, putting on a theatrical production, or doing a lesson on graffiti) consists of many smaller-scale actions (e.g., practicing a piece for a recital, rehearsing a scene, or choosing statements to express through graffiti).
We argue that each of these small-scale actions, or art practices, also includes social-emotional components. To offer just one example for each, the piano practice could include using breathing and mindfulness to deal with performance anxiety, the theatre rehearsal could include working with other students to accomplish a goal with minimal adult supervision, and thinking about expression in graffiti could prompt students to reflect on the feelings about events going on in their lives. Just as the art practices themselves are the building blocks of long-term art competencies (e.g., skill at playing the piano, performing a play, or creating graffiti), the social-emotional components are the building blocks of long-term social-emotional competencies (e.g., improved emotional self-regulation, responsibility and awareness of peers' emotional states, and confidence in expressing complex ideas stemming from personal thoughts and feelings). Our theory emphasizes that
the artistic and social-emotional aspects are always happening simultaneously and that, just as a student can learn good or bad piano habits, she can learn good or bad social-emotional habits. Just as the art practices must be cultivated into long-term art competencies through guidance and instruction, the social-emotional components of these activities must be cultivated into long-term social-emotional competencies.
This report has three sections. The first describes our theory of action in greater detail, emphasizing the developmental effects of arts education. The second section surveys evidence in three areas of social- emotional development: self-management and discipline, interpersonal and relationship skills, and self-expression and identity. It also provides illustrative examples of the theory of action drawn from literature and our fieldwork interviews. The third and final section describes
practical implications of this work and suggests areas for further research.1
Our conclusions are relevant to both the practitioner and policymaking levels. First, exposure to a range of arts opportunities is crucial in helping students to identify and engage with learning contexts that will fit their
own social-emotional needs. Second, arts education has social-emotional effects regardless of instructor intent— and these effects can be either positive or negative.
It is crucial for educators to be intentional in the social-
emotional contexts they create through their lessons. Third, while we argue that arts education is particularly well-suited to social-emotional development for a variety of reasons, it is by no means unique in this regard. There are lessons that educators in non-arts subjects can draw from the mechanisms whereby arts learning has a positive social-emotional impact on children and adolescents.
Overall, this report emphasizes that arts education settings are sites of great potential. Learning literary or media arts, visual arts, theatre, dance, or music has great intrinsic benefits for young people, as they are exposed to creative humanistic experiences and the potential for rigorous skill development. However, with deliberate planning and awareness, a skilled instructor can shape these lessons into spaces for deep and lasting development of those young people' social and emotional skills and well-being.


The existing research on the value and positive impact of adolescent involvement in the arts, while often examining generic academic benefits of K-12 arts study (e.g., Catterall, 1997; 2009; Deasy, 2002; Gouzouasis, Guhn, & Kishor, 2007; Helmrich, 2010; Miksza, 2007a; 2010; Morrison, 1994; Schellenberg, 2005; Southgate & Roscigno, 2009), has yet to specifically explore arts education as a pathway to college. The social and economic value of attending and completing college has been well documented in the research literature (Hout, 2012; Kane & Rouse, 1995; Marcotte, Bailey, Borkoski, & Kienzl, 2005); as such, it seems reasonable to investigate whether evidence exists suggesting arts education experiences might increase the probability that students will participate and succeed in the college admissions process and in the attainment of postsecondary credentials. The purpose of this study was to examine the value and positive impact of arts education on the college attainment of students in the United States.


This report, commissioned from the NORC at the University of Chicago, investigates the relationship between arts education and arts participation, based on data from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts for 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2008. The report also examines long-term declines in Americans' reported rates of arts learning—in creative writing, music, and the visual arts, among other disciplines. Authors Nick Rabkin and E.C. Hedberg find that the declines are not distributed evenly across all racial and ethnic groups.


Student access to arts education and the quality of such instruction in the nation' public schools continue to be of concern to policymakers, educators, and families. Specifically, research has focused on questions such as: To what extent do students receive instruction in the arts? Under what conditions is this instruction provided? What is the profile of arts education instructors? (Ruppert and Nelson 2006). This study is the third of its kind to be conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education, to provide national data that inform these issues. The first study was conducted in the 1994-95 school year to provide baseline data on public schools' approaches to arts education. The second study was conducted during the 1999- 2000 school year to provide broader coverage of arts education issues by collecting the first national data on educational backgrounds, professional development activities, teaching loads, and instructional practices of elementary school teachers— self-contained classroom teachers, music specialists, and visual arts specialists


Due to budget constraints, schools in the United States have increasingly turned to community arts organizations for support. School-community arts partnership stakeholders collaborate because of shared missions to provide students with valuable arts learning experiences. Investigations of these initiatives indicate that these partnerships improve arts learning opportunities and increase public support and resources for arts education. However, not much is known about the experiences and perspectives of the arts organizations that participate in these partnerships. Coordinating collective efforts with a multitude of institutions and interests poses challenges. In this study, we examine survey data collected from arts organization administrators who participated in a large-scale school-community arts partnership initiative. We find that these organizations are generally positive about their impacts on students' educational outcomes, but there is substantial variation in these views. We also find that organizations differ in their levels of support for these collective efforts. Sources of this variation appear to be attributable to organizations' preexisting resources and extent to which they are established. While this difference in levels of support is potentially inevitable, we find evidence that the operations handled by the “backbone” organization, i.e. the initiative' facilitators and overseers, can significantly influence organizations' levels of support for these efforts. Organizations are more likely to support these collaborative efforts when they believe the backbone organization ensures transparency with initiative operations, provides regular, effective communication, and effectively resolves competing priorities.


Self-esteem is regarded as vital to children's social and cognitive development and emotional well-being. To date, a few studies have suggested that arts activities can improve self-esteem in young people. However, such studies mainly focused on small, nonrepresentative samples. In this study, data from 6209 children included in the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study were analyzed using propensity score matching to investigate the association between children's arts engagement ((1) listening to or playing music; (2) drawing, painting, or making things; and (3) reading for enjoyment) and self-esteem at age 11. All three activities were associated with higher levels of self-esteem when matching for all identified demographic, socioeconomic, and familial confounders. Additionally, the relationship was more prominent when children engaged in these activities with their parents on a regular basis. However, there was no clear evidence that ability in either music or arts activities moderated the relationship with self-esteem, although English language ability may moderate the association between reading and self-esteem. These results suggest that initiatives to promote arts engagement in children may provide a practical and efficient way to improve children's self-esteem. This is the key given self-esteem in childhood tends to decline as children enter adolescence, yet is linked to lifelong development and well-being.


This article examines arts participation as a context for youth to develop purpose. Two analyses were conducted of interviews with arts-involved youth to explore the relationship between their arts participation and purpose, which was defined as an “intention to accomplish something that is both meaningful to the self and contributes to the world beyond the self” (Damon, Menon, & Bronk, 2003, p. 121). First, a grounded theory analysis examined interviews with 53 arts-involved youth to understand what motivated their arts participation. Relating to others emerged as an important motivation for young artists. Second, a longitudinal analysis examined interviews with 29 arts-involved youth who were interviewed twice over 2 years. Artistic purpose was unstable. Adolescents lost meaning in their artistic activity as they transitioned from school to work, suggesting that purpose development is complicated by the challenge of pursuing an artistic career.


The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of arts participation on young people' civic attitudes and intended behavior, using data from two international studies of youth civic engagement (the 1999 Civic Education Study [CIVED:99] and the 2009 International Civics and Citizenship Education Study [ICCS:09], both by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). An item in CIVED:99 assessing whether participants had ever participated in art, music, or drama groups loaded onto a scale with other items assessing youth organizational participation (e.g., human rights organizations, student councils), while an item in ICCS:09 assessing respondents' participation in music or drama organizations outside of lessons in the school context loaded onto a scale with items assessing youth civic participation at school. In both studies, arts participation was more frequent among female respondents and among those from more resourced home backgrounds, even controlling for overall levels of participation. Arts participation was a unique, significant predictor of attitudes toward historically-disenfranchised groups in CIVED:99, and was a unique predictor of trust and expected future participation in informal, local civic activities in ICCS:09. Several of the associations varied by country and by individual background.


This study examines the impact that the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) has had on the relocation decisions of families whose child attends the school. The school draws students from a relatively wide geographic area, and it exerts a strong attractive power on enrolled families. Families who live near the school (in Santa Ana, California) are substantially less likely to relocate than families who live farther away. Hundreds of families (669) have moved closer to Santa Ana after enrolling a child in the school, and a substantial fraction (97 families) moved from a non-Santa Ana address into the city. While students matriculate into the school in grades 7 through 12, the attraction seems to be particularly strong for families enrolling a child at the beginning of the 9th grade. The reasons for the high level of attraction for 9th graders are unclear. This finding calls for further research since it may have implications for how schoolchoice programs in general, and arts-based programs in particular, should be structured when one of the policy goals is to catalyze redevelopment of the urban environment.


What is the role of the arts in healthcare related to young people⿿s mental health and wellbeing? How do we understand the interconnections of art, therapy and health and describe the projected benefits for young people⿿s mental health and wellbeing? Responding to these questions, this paper describes a youth arts project and research. Three stakeholder viewpoints, the artists, health workers and young people, are examined to draw out explanations and understandings of art, therapy, and health related to young people⿿s mental health in an Australian context. A synthesis of arts and health methodologies were used, including thematic analysis of interviews with participants. This paper investigates the ways in which participant descriptions entwined and blurred ideas and possibilities of practice across the art, therapy and health nexus. These viewpoints add up to much more than each one can offer in singularity. They reveal expanded perspectives with which to consider scope of practice, discipline boundaries, and research gaps pertaining to the role of the arts in youth-specific mental health services.


Issue addressed: This article reports the qualitative evaluation of "Artspace," an innovative clinical program combining creative arts with physical and mental health care for young women. The program, provided since 2004, comprises weekly visual arts sessions alongside a youth health clinic offering drop-in appointments with a nurse, GP and counsellor.

Methods: A qualitative evaluation of Artspace was conducted between 2016 and 2017.

Results: The evaluation showed that Artspace was particularly beneficial for those clients who had considerable exposure to social adversity and trauma, and were experiencing related serious health impacts. Artspace facilitated their recovery by enabling equitable access facilitation, social inclusion, creating a "holding" environment, and through the directly therapeutic benefits of artist-led arts processes.

Conclusions: Our study highlights the positive impact of artist-led programs such as Artspace. It also attests to the importance of long-term sustainability of services, to allow the time needed for young people to experience genuine and sustained recovery, and to reduce the otherwise likely disadvantages associated with mental and physical health problems, as they move into their adult lives. SO WHAT?: Youth health researchers have been recommending arts programs at health services as a means of engaging young people in health care for over 15 years, however, it remains an underutilised approach in primary care settings. Our evaluation affirms the effectiveness of art programs for this, and also demonstrates that art programs can be a key contributor to recovery from the serious health impacts of adversity and trauma.


Educators, policy makers, and funders increasingly argue that structured after-school activities can provide youth with valuable supports for development. Studies assessing the impact of particular programs and strategies, however, are rare. This study presents a method of assessment that enables evaluation of varied youth programs in accordance with a youth development agenda. The data include a sample of 125 6th-10th grade African American students as well as samples of students who participated in 3 other after-school programs. The analysis of survey data indicates that only some after-school programs provide more opportunities and supports for youth development that students received during the school day, but that almost all provide significantly more attractive affective contexts that students experience during the school day. This difference is particularly great for African American male youth. The study also compares community- and school-based after-school programs and identifies possible directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)


The lack of neighbourhood aesthetics (e.g. public art and well-maintained properties) may reduce walkability in the neighbourhood and increase the risk of childhood obesity. In this study, a literature search was conducted in the Cochrane Library, PubMed and Web of Science for articles published before January 1, 2019 to analyse the associations between neighbourhood aesthetics and weight-related behaviours and outcomes among children and adolescents aged <18. One cohort study and 24 cross-sectional studies, conducted in 10 countries with a median sample size of 1124 were identified. Neighbourhood aesthetics was more commonly assessed by self-reported or parent-reported perceptions than objective measurements. Eighteen of the 25 included studies analysed physical activity (PA) as the outcome of interests, eight studies analysed active transport to school (ATS), and eight studies analysed weight status, including body mass index and overweight/obesity status. About two-thirds of studies reported non-significant associations when using PA and weight status as outcomes, and half of studies showed that neighbourhood aesthetics is associated with increased use of ATS. The rest of the studies reported mixed findings with slightly more studies showing neighbourhood aesthetics may promote PA or reduce weight. Better designed studies are necessary to achieve a robust understanding of this epidemiological relationship in the future.


This article underscores the importance to childrens' development of utilizing urban neighborhoods-even problematic ones—as arenas for critical learning and intervention. It describes one participatory public art project undertaken with young people in a low income neighborhood in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The project provided teens with an opportunity to critically assess and positively revision their neighborhood through exploratory walks, surveys, discussions, and design activities that culminated in the production of colorful banners. In a larger context, the article goes on to explore methods to help young people claim a more central place in the life of their cities and begin to effect environmental change. It examines obstacles to such endeavors and considers how those in the planning and design professions might help support such efforts.


Background: Starting in 2013, the Mental Health Youth Action Board, made up of 15 teens ages 15-18, was created to advise a large children's hospital on improvements in mental health care and produce social action projects to impact community perceptions of mental health.Methods: This participatory qualitative case study explored the experiences of 14 young people who participated in the Mental Health Youth Action Board between 2013 and 2016.Results: There were two higher order themes: process and outcomes. Process-related themes included how this was a unique leadership experience, the importance of the arts-based approach, and value of the intentionally constructed storytelling process. These processes led to youth growing as advocates for mental health.Conclusions: Arts-based approaches to social action that allow youth to share personal experiences of stigmatized topics can promote healing and support their growth as leaders.


Student health and wellbeing is recognized as being paramount to their learning, so much so that curriculum frameworks are embedded in health and wellbeing training for students and teachers (Belonging, Being, Becoming, 2009 & The Victorian Curriculum 2013). Art Friends are interested in the visual arts and its impact on children' health and wellbeing. How do children feel when they make art? Is making visual arts outside the school setting beneficial to children? What happens to the brain during art making? Is there neurological evidence that making art is good for children?

In a study of 20 Spanish children, aged 6 to 12 years old, participants were invited to a series of art workshops designed to teach emotion and creativity skills through art making and art appreciation activities. In five of the six sessions, children observed multiple representations of one of the following emotions - happy, sad, angry, afraid or calm. This was followed by an exploration of a new set of art materials to express the target emotion. Afterwards, they shared their artworks and participated in a discussion.

The workshops took place in a safe environment. The researchers found evidence of improved emotion and creativity skills in children. For example, the children discussed how they were less likely to settle on their first idea when making art, which is an important creativity skill as it reflects divergent thinking. Moreover, participants reported feeling more motivated for this type of learning and one commented on how they could voice their opinion, indicating that their risk-taking ability had improved. The ability to take risks by sharing one' thoughts 'develops a perception of self-determination, which would positively affect children' intrinsic motivation and thus their well-being' (Ebert, Hoffmann, Ivcevic, Phan & Brackett 2015).

In 2017, there was a review at Paris Descartes University of case studies from England, Korea, Spain China, Taiwan and France, where expressive arts training was used to improve children' wellbeing in schools. Each country employed different art forms and methodologies. While each study showed a positive relationship between arts engagement and the enhancement of children' wellbeing, the response from children was positive but as varied as the choice of engagement. For example, the Creative Partnership workshops in England were highly successful and were deemed responsible for improvement in students' self-confidence, self-esteem, autonomy, sense of capability and sense of belonging - determinants of wellbeing. In Taiwan the creative drama workshops improve children' emotional regulation strategies and positive emotions. The analysis showed how creative initiatives in all the studies led to the enhancement and development of children' wellbeing. Interestingly, the French investigation also observed that:

All creative initiatives offered a play pedagogy that successfully engaged children because it gives them a sense of freedom and a feeling of happiness.
In successful programs, children were active rather than passive learners.
Most of the programs claimed positive emotion as an outcome for children (Celume, Sovet, Lubart & Zenasni 2017).
Playfulness, enjoyment, a sense of freedom, feeling happy and being actively engaged are qualities that children responded to and favoured in their choice of learning methods. Interestingly, these qualities are also the characteristics of play.

A 2019 study at University College London on, a survey of children' leisure time engagement in the arts found that taking part in creative activities can boost a young person' self-esteem, irrespective of ability level. The report looked at many types of arts engagements and measured if parental involvement impacted on the outcome. The researchers found that children who participated in arts activities most days were more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem. However, in the areas of reading and music activities, this arts/self-esteem relationship is only present when parents engage in these activities with their children on a regular basis, whereas for painting, drawing and making of things, the relationship with self-esteem is present irrespective of parental engagement. The authors say the research findings support two theories on why art activities support self-esteem:

Self-Identity: Arts activities (particularly when a person is creating something new) probably 'validates the uniqueness of an individual, which gives rise to a sense of accomplishment and to feelings of self-worth in their own ability and helps to enhance self-empowerment, self-esteem, and self-worth.'

Social Identity: For example, the arts have been shown to support a sense of identity, particularly in a group setting. Being part of a group activity where a person contributes to “positive distinguishes” will enhance positive social identity for group members and elevates the individual' self-esteem. (Mak & Fancourt 2019)

In an Australian study looking at the impact of arts activities on the mental wellbeing and resilience of children and young people, the researcher examined arts engagement in the community, schools and home, and the types of art engagement i.e., music, drumming, dance, singing, drama, theatre, design, painting, mask making storytelling, film/media and circus. The evidence showed that structured arts activities build resilience and contribute to positive mental wellbeing of children and young people (i.e., increase confidence, self-esteem, self- expression, self-understanding, sense of achievement, identity, improved coping mechanisms to deal with stress, and life satisfaction (Zarobe & Bungay 2017).

In another Australian study looking at improving health service access of young Aboriginal parents in a Sydney urban setting, the arts-community health program provided an environment of social connectedness and empowerment. The Ngala Nanga Mai ('We Dream') program strengthened parenting skills and increased maternal and child wellbeing (i.e., in the mental, social and physical domains) (Jersky, Callaghan, Zwi, Osborne, Fitzpatrick, Haswell-Elkins & Freeman 20130) & (Jersky, Titmus, Haswell, Freeman, Osborne, Callaghan L, et al. 2016).

An examination of the Canadian 'We Light the fire' Project: building resilience and connections through creative arts programme for Indigenous youth', found that the program drew positive responses such as, art skills development, resilience and it acted as a catalyst to stimulate discussion about community issues. The workshop was a means of promoting health messages and seen as art-as-a-vehicle-for-change. The workshop provided opportunities for Indigenous youth to build their capacities, voice their thoughts and beliefs, grow in confidence, sense of identity and strengthen ties with peers and communities. All these qualities are determinants of self-esteem and hence, mental wellbeing (Fanian, Young, Mantla, Daniels & Chatwood 2015)

The evidence base of the impact of art on children and youth' health and wellbeing was from the children and youth' subjective observations, as well as the observations of parents, teachers, artists and researchers. There were positive responses from children and youth when they were asked about their participation in art: they feel more motivated to learn; they liked learning through the arts, they feel happy; they like being actively engaged; they like the freedom of choice; it validates their self-identity; it supports their social identity; it builds resilience and positive mental wellbeing; it helped them grow in confidence; it strengthened ties with peers; it provides social connectedness and empowerment; improved self-esteem, autonomy, sense of capability and sense of belonging; improved emotional regulation and position emotion. What is interesting is that the responses are all about the children' feelings i.e., mental and social wellbeing. Self-esteem, confidence, autonomy are determinants of wellbeing. Hence, the responses observed provides evidence to support the notion that art has a very positive response predominantly on children and youth' mental and social health and wellbeing.


Eh!woza is a public engagement initiative that explores the biomedical and social aspects of tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa. The project is a collaboration between scientists based in an infectious disease research institute, a local conceptual/visual artist, a youth-based educational non-governmental organization (NGO) and young learners from a high-burden TB community. The learners participate in a series of interactive science and media production workshops: initially presented with biomedical knowledge about TB and, in later sessions, are trained in creating documentary films and engage with ideas around visual representation. The participants are encouraged to make use of this newly acquired knowledge to tell stories from their chosen communities in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town. Through its engagement with the complex manner in which TB is experienced, framed and understood by biomedical scientists, young people, and those who have been affected by the disease, Eh!woza presents alternative ways of exploring the complexities of human illness. The integration and interrogation of biomedical understandings, lay narratives and the young participants' framing of the disease poses questions about 'knowing', and the meanings people attribute to ways of 'knowing' and the actions they impel. The project also presents contrasting reflections on cure-from a biomedical perspective, and care-from the perspective of TB-affected young people and community members. In this article, we describe the Eh!woza project, present thoughts from the participating students on the science and media workshops, and detail the narratives of ill-health and disease from people within their neighbourhoods. We conclude with a critical analysis of the complexities of knowledge communication, notions of cure versus care, and a consideration of the potential contribution of this project to the growth of medical humanities in Africa.