Below is a small and growing collection of articles about Art Therapy in museum and gallery settings and related topics. Clicking on the titles below will bring you to the PDF in a new window. This is not an exhaustive collection so please email us with other useful references we can add them to the site. Thank you!
Bibliography – will open a PDF document with a list of books and journal articles we found helpful.
NWFED wellbeing research resources
American Alliance of Museums, Museums on Call – How Museums are Addressing Health Issues
Allied Health Professions into Action: Art Therapy in cultural spaces
Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing
Creative and Cultural Activities and Wellbeing in Later Life
Glossary of health terms for museums
Museums for Wellbeing: What role can museums play? in Museum Practice
Calm and collected Museums and galleries: the UK’s untapped wellbeing resource?
Kaplan, S., Bardwell, L. V., and Slakter, D. B. (1993). The MUSEUM as a restorative environment. Environ. Behav. 25, 725–742. doi: 10.1177/0013916593256004
Debra Linesch (2004), Art therapy at the museum of tolerance: responses to the life and work of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis,The Arts in Psychotherapy, 31, 57–66
(2008) The role of art therapy in a pilot for art-based Information Prescriptions at Tate Britain, International Journal of Art Therapy, 13:1, 25-33, DOI: 10.1080/17454830802069877
Zhvitiashvili, Nana, Developing “museum therapy”, Newsbriefing Spring/Summer 2008
Marxen, E. (2009). Therapeutic thinking in contemporary art or psychotherapy in the arts. Arts Psychother. 36, 131–139. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2008.10.004
Huet, V. (2011), Art therapy-based organisational consultancy: a session at Tate Britain, International Journal of Art Therapy, 16:1, 3-13, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2011.575382
Thomson, L.J., Ander, E.E., Menon, U., Lanceley, A. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2011). Evaluating the therapeutic effects of museum object handling with hospital patients: A review and initial trial of wellbeing measures. Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 2(1), 37–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/jaah.2.1.37_1
Ander, E.E., Thomson, L.J., Lanceley, A., Menon, U., Noble, G. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2011). Generic Wellbeing Outcomes: Towards a conceptual framework for wellbeing outcomes in museums. Museum Management and Curatorship, 26(3), 237–259. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2011.585798
Betts, D. (2011). The social work of museums. Arts Psychother. 38, 215–216. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2011.05.001
Thomson, L.J., Ander, E.E., Menon, U., Lanceley, A. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2012a). Quantitative evidence for wellbeing benefits from a heritage-in-health intervention with hospital patients. International Journal of Art Therapy, 17(2), 63–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2012.687750
Ander, E.E., Thomson, L.J., Lanceley, A., Menon, U., Noble, G. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2012). Heritage, health and wellbeing: Assessing the impact of a heritage focused intervention on health and wellbeing. International Journal of Heritage Studies, (19)3, 229–242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2011.6851740
Ander, E.E., Thomson, L.J., Blair, K., Lanceley, A., Menon, U. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2013). Using museum objects to improve wellbeing in psychiatric and rehabilitation patients. British Journal of Occupational Psychology, 76(5), 208–216. https://doi.org/10.4276/030802213X13679275042645
Ander, E.E., Thomson, L.J., Noble, G. Lanceley, A., Menon, U. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2013). Heritage, health and wellbeing: Assessing the impact of a heritage focused intervention on health and wellbeing. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 19(3), 229–242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2011.651740
Camic, P. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2013). Museums and art galleries as partners for public health interventions, Perspectives in Public Health,Volume: 133 issue: 1, pp. 66-71, doi.org/10.1177/1757913912468523
Paddon, H., Thomson, L., Lanceley, A., Menon, U. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2013). Mixed methods evaluation of wellbeing benefits derived from a heritage-in-health intervention with hospital patients. Arts & Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, 6(1), 24–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2013.800987
Vogelpoel, N., Lewis-Holmes, B., Thomson, L.J. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2013). Touching Heritage: Community health and wellbeing promotion through sustainable and inclusive volunteer programming in the museums’ sector. International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 6(1), 109–119. http://ijz.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.177/prod.256
Ioannides, Elisabeth, New Forms of Interactions, Newsbriefing, June 2014
Thomson, L.J. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2014). Assessing well-being outcomes for arts and heritage activities: Development of a Museum Well-being Measures Toolkit. Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 5(1), 29–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/jaah.5.1.29_1
Peacock, K., Hamil, S., & Dumlao, K. (2014). Art therapy access programs. Retrieved from www.brooksmuseum.org/assets/2259/art-therapy-in-museums-memphis.pdf
Betts, D. J., Potash, J. S., Luke, J. J., & Kelso, M. (2015). An art therapy study of visitor reactions to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Museum Management and Curatorship, 30(1), 21-43.
Chatterjee, H.J. & Camic, P.M. (2015). The health and wellbeing potential of museums and art galleries. Arts & Health: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, 7(3), 183–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2015.1065594
Hutchinson, S. Working with Foster Carers in the role of therapist at a local gallery, Newsbriefing December 2015*
Thomson, L.J. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2015). Measuring the impact of museum activities on wellbeing: Developing the Museum Wellbeing Measures Toolkit. Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship. 30(1), 44–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2015.1008390
Morse, N., Thomson, L.J., Brown, Z. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2015). Effects of creative museum outreach sessions on measures of confidence, sociability and well-being for mental health and addiction recovery service-users. Arts & Health: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, 7(3), 231–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2015.1061570
Solway, R., Thomson, L.J., Camic, P.M. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2015). Museum object handling in older adult mental health inpatient care. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 17(4), 201–214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14623730.2015.1035520
Weaving Potential Space and Acculturation : Art Therapy in the Museum– This unformatted version is kindly provided by the author. The published article can be sought here. Salom, A. (2015) ‘Weaving Potential Space and Acculturation: Art Therapy at the Museum’, Journal of Applied Arts and Health, 6: 1, pp. 47- 62.
Camic, P. Baker, E. L. & Tischler, V. (2016). Theorizing How Art Gallery Interventions Impact People With Dementia and Their Caregivers, The Gerontologist, Volume 56, Issue 6, pp. 1033–1041, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnv063
Ioannides, E. (2016). Museums as Therapeutic Environments and the Contribution of Art Therapy, Museum International, vol. 68, issue 3-4, 98–109. doi: 10.1111/muse.12125
Thomson, L.J. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2016). Wellbeing with Objects: Evaluating a museum object-handling intervention for older adults in health care settings. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 35(3), 349–362. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0733464814558267
Jensen Anita , Stickley Theodore, Edgley Alison. (2016) The perspectives of people who use mental health services engaging with arts and cultural activities. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 20 (3), 180 https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-02-2016-0011
NHS, Halton, Clinical Commissioning Group, A Cultural Manifesto for Wellbeing, April 2017
Art Therapy in Museums – Elisabeth Ioannides talk to Lina Patmali in Museeum, 28 August 2017
G. Baddeley, L. Evans, M. Lajeunesse & S. Legari (2017), Body Talk Examining a Collaborative Multiple Visit Program for Visitors with Eating Disorders, Journal of Museum Education, 42:4, 345-353
Coles, A. & Harrison, F. (2017). Tapping into museums for art psychotherapy: an evaluation of a pilot group for young adults, International Journal of Ar Therapy: Inscape
Morse, N. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2017). Museums, health and wellbeing research: Co-developing a new observational method for people with dementia in hospital contexts. Perspectives in Public Health, 138(3), 152–159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1757913917737588
Morse, N., Lockyer, B., Thomson, L.J., Camic, P.M. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2017). Collaboration in Museums and Health Research. BMJ Open, 7(2), A1–A14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016492.24
Pantagoutsou, A., Ioannides, E. & Vaslamatzis, G. (2017). Exploring the Museum’s Images – Exploring My Image (Exploration des images du musée, exploration de mon image), Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, Volume 30, Issue 2: Art Therapy and Visual Culture
Rochford, J. S. (2017). Art therapy and art Museum education: a visitor-focused collaboration. Art Ther. 34, 209–214. doi: 10.1080/07421656.2017.1383787
Spraggins Rochford, J. (2017). Art therapy at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art: A feminist systems thinking approach to art therapy and museum collaborations. The Journal of Art for Life. 9(2).
Thaler, L., Drapeau, C. E., Leclerc, J., Lajeunesse, M., Cottier, D., Kahan, E., et al. (2017). An adjunctive, museum-based art therapy experience in the treatment of women with severe eating disorders. Arts Psychother. 56, 1–6. doi: 10.1016/j.aip.2017.08.002
Todd, C., Camic, P.M., Lockyer, B., Thomson, L.J. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2017). Museum-based programmes for socially isolated older adults: Understanding what works. Health & Place, 48, 47-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.08.005
Jensen Anita, Stickley Theodore, Torrissen Wenche, Stigmar Kjerstin. (2017) Arts on prescription in Scandinavia: a review of current practice and future possibilities. Perspectives in Public Health, 137 (5), 268 https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913916676853
Hine, Ellen (2018), Eskenazi initiative provides art therapy for children
Thomson, L.J., Lockyer, B., Camic, P.M. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2018). Effects of a museum-based social prescription intervention on quantitative measures of psychological wellbeing in older adults. Perspectives in Public Health, 138(1), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913917737563
West,J.D. (2018) ‘Research , Epistemology and the Fee…’ in West, J.D. (ed.) (2018) Art Therapy in Private Practice: Theory, Practice and Research in Changing Contexts. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
(2019). Flexing the frame: therapist experiences of museum-based group art psychotherapy for adults with complex mental health difficulties, International Journal of Art Therapy, 24:2, 56-67, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2018.1564346
(2019) (Re)collections: Art Therapy Training and Supervision at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts ((Re)visiter : formation en art-therapie et supervision au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal), Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 32:1, 45-52, DOI: 10.1080/08322473.2019.1601929
Ioannides, E., (2019), Art as a place of co-existence, First published in Newsbriefing, British Association of Art Therapists, Winter, 2019
(2019) Art as therapy; museums and galleries as places for psychodynamic art therapy, Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, DOI: 10.1080/21507686.2019.1703773
Coles, A. & Jury, H. (ed), (2020), Art Therapy in Museums and Galleries: Reframing Practice, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, ISBN: 9781785924118
Caring – Supporting, how well-being weaves links between Museum and Local Communities? Museum Connections Conference 2020, Paris, France (Podcast). Speaking: Ronan Brindley, Manchester Art Gallery; Estelle d’Almeida, Centre Pompidou; Elisabeth Ioannides, National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST)
Allison Henry (2020), Creating meaning from loss: a museum-based group art therapy Program design for adolescents who have lost a caregiver, A Research Paper in The Department of Creative Arts Therapies, Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Trauma-Aware Museum Education: Principles and Practices, Written by Andrew Palamara, Ronna Tulgan Ostheimer, Stephen Legari, Emily Wiskera, and Laura Evans
Covid-19: How to deal with change / How to deal with stress in the post-lockdown period / Creative journals – visual narrative as the art of opening up following confinement in the times of Covid-19, National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST)
Museums Embrace Art Therapy Techniques for Unsettled Times, The New York Times
Olivier Beauchet, Thomas Bastien, Mary Mittelman, Yoko Hayashi, Andy Hau Yan Ho (2020), Participatory art-based activity, community-dwelling older adults and changes in health condition: Results from a pre–post intervention, single-arm, prospective and longitudinal study, Maturitas, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2020.01.006
Thomson, L.J., Morse, N., Elsden, E. & Chatterjee, H.J. (2020). Art, nature and mental health: Assessing the biopsychosocial effects of a ‘creative green prescription’ museum programme involving horticulture, artmaking and collections. Perspectives in Public Health, 10(11), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913920910443
Smallwood, E., Legari, S., & Sheldon, S. (2020). Group Art Therapy for the Psychosocial Dimension of Epilepsy: A Perspective and a Preliminary Mixed-Methods Study. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 54(3), 286-323. Retrieved from https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/69559
Kador, T. & Chatterjee, H. (Ed.). (2020), Object-Based Learning and Well-Being: Exploring Material Connections. London: Routledge. ISBN: 9780429759284.
Janice Lobban & Dominic Murphy (2020). Military museum collections and art therapy as mental health resources for veterans with PTSD, International Journal of Art Therapy, 25:4, 172-182, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2020.1845220
The Baring Foundation (2021). Creatively Minded and Ethnically Diverse ISBN: 978-1-906172-53-4
(2021) ‘A space that worked for them’: museum-based art psychotherapy, power dynamics, social inclusion and autonomy, International Journal of Art Therapy, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2020.1866046
Ioannides, E., Pantagoutsou, A. & Jury, H. (2021). Contemporary artworks as transformational objects in art psychotherapy museum groupwork, The Arts in Psychotherapy, 73, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101759
Mitra Reyhani Ghadim, Lauren Daugherty (Ed.) (2021). Museum-based Art Therapy A Collaborative Effort with Access, Education, and Public Programs. Taylor & Francis Ltd . ISBN: 9780367856533
Visanich Valerie, Attard Toni. (2021) Towards the social prescription of the arts: The arts in health and social care in Malta. Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 12 (2), 163 https://doi.org/10.1386/jaah_00065_1
Perkins Rosie, Mason-Bertrand Adele, Tymoszuk Urszula, Spiro Neta, Gee Kate, Williamon Aaron. (2021) Arts engagement supports social connectedness in adulthood: findings from the HEartS Survey. BMC Public Health, 21 (1) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11233-6
Najma’ Tania Kaczynski, Jon Martyn and Emma Hollanby,’Image, Narrative and Migration’ (Ch 15), in ‘Using Image and Narrative in Therapy for Trauma, Addiction and Recovery’, James D. West (ed.), Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2021.
Ho Rainbow T. H.. (2021) Arts engagement trends in the United Kingdom and their mental and social wellbeing implications: HEartS Survey. PLOS ONE, 16 (3), e0246078 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246078
Ioannides, E. & Konti, M. (2022). Art based research workshop on response art, Envisage: The CATA Online Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 3, Fall 2022. Available online at: https://www.canadianarttherapy.org/envisage/envisage-fall-2022-ioannides-konti
Jury, H. & Coles, A. (2022). Art Psychotherapy and Innovation. New Territories, Techniques and Technologies. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9781787757080
Jury, H. & Coles, A. (2022). New voices for an evolving profession, International Journal of Art Therapy, 27:2, 45-47, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2022.2058749
Wei Z and Zhong C (2022), Museums and art therapy: A bibliometric analysis of the potential of museum art therapy. Front. Psychol. 13:1041950. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1041950
Donna, B. & Huet, V. (eds), (2022). Bridging the Creative Arts Therapies and Arts in Health : Toward Inspirational Practice. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN: 9781787757226
Katherine N. Cotter & James O. Pawelski (2022), Art museums as institutions for human flourishing, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17:2, 288-302, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2021.2016911
Nuala Morse, L.J. Thomson, E. Elsden, H. Rogers and H.J. Chatterjee (2023), Exploring the potential of creative museum-led activities to support stroke In-patient rehabilitation and wellbeing: A pilot mixed-methods study, Arts & Health, VOL. 15, NO. 2, pp. 135–152 https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2022.2032224
Jessica Marian Goodman-Casanova, Ali Coles, Daniel Cuesta-Lozano & Fermin Mayoral-Cleries (2023), It’s all about the journey! An online museum-based recovery-oriented art psychotherapy group, International Journal of Art Therapy, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2023.2188410
Julia Baumann, Natasha Biscoe, Karen Burnell, Janice Lobban & Dominic Murphy (2023), Museum-based art therapy and wellbeing programme: experiences of veterans with PTSD, International Journal of Art Therapy, DOI: 10.1080/17454832.2023.2188409
New report by UCL researchers links participating in arts and culture to longer, healthier lives
Konti, M. (ed.) (2023), The Art of Response Art-Based Research on Art Psychotherapy, Athens: EMΣΤ
Tzafi Weinberg & Monica Carpendale (eds.) (2023). Walking With: An Emerging Dialogue with Art Therapists in the Cultural Commons. Ontario: Essenze, ISBN: 1999185560
CREATING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES THROUGH CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATION This paper presents a case for how collaboration among the public health, arts and culture, and community development sectors is critical to addressing the issues and conditions that limit health in America.
Robert T. Muller, (2023), When Museums can be a space for healing, The Trauma and Mental Health Report, September 20, 2023. Available online at: https://trauma.blog.yorku.ca/2023/09/when-museums-can-be-a-space-for-healing/
Trauma informed practice in Museums with Jackie Armstrong (July, 2023): https://thinkingmuseum.com/captivate-podcast/trauma-informed-practice-in-museums-with-jackie-armstrong/
Publication on trauma-informed practice in Museums by Jackie Armstrong: https://www.jackie-armstrong.com/publications-and-more
Cotter, K.N., Rodriguez-Boerwinkle, R.M., Silver, S. et al. Emotional Experiences, Well-Being, and Ill-Being During Art Museum Visits: A Latent Class Analysis. J Happiness Stud 25, 24 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00736-9
Heller, V. (2024). The Visual Life Story Approach: A Tool for Transformation and Well-Being in Museum Art Therapy With Immigrant Adults (L’approche visuelle du récit de vie : un outil de transformation et de bien-être en art-thérapie muséale auprès d’adultes immigrants). Canadian Journal of Art Therapy, 37(1), 30–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/26907240.2024.2359751
Alves, I., Simões de Almeida, R., Simó Algado, S., & Marques, A. (2024). Art as atherapeutic medium: the SuperART project. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 32, e3734.https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoAO287437342
Zhou, J., Lin, Y., Huang, T. (2024). Psychological anxiety intervention for young audiences: effectiveness evaluation of art museums. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 26(1), 39-49. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2023.045203