“I wouldn’t still be here”: the power of visual arts for mental health

“It keeps me going. I don’t know what I’d do if it wasn’t here.”

Tonic Arts/NHS Lothians participant.

From Van Gogh, Dali and Munch to Yayoi Kusama today, the visual arts have a long history of association with people living with mental health problems.

Our latest report published this week – Creatively Minded in the Art Studio – reveals the often hidden world of contemporary visual arts activity for and by people living with mental health problems, exemplified through 16 case study organisations from around the UK.

Our analysis reveals a field populated by mostly small, very local organisations surviving on small budgets, but with a huge commitment to creating opportunities for expression, community, joy and meaning for the people they work with. Work takes place in the community and in-patient NHS settings.

The report also includes a history of the field, a reflection on the relationship between art therapy and participatory arts, and the potential for collaboration, by Dr Val Huet, and concludes with a directory and map of more organisations working in this area.

They’ve managed to engage me in a way no one else could.

Studio Upstairs, participant.

Photo: Chilli Studios, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.