{"id":2001,"date":"2025-03-18T13:21:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T13:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/can-museums-boost-well-being-science-wants-to-find-out\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T13:21:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T13:21:28","slug":"can-museums-boost-well-being-science-wants-to-find-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/can-museums-boost-well-being-science-wants-to-find-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Museums Boost Well-being? Science Wants to Find Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New research is shedding light on art\u2019s capacity to alleviate anxiety, ease psychological stress and support mental health. Sta\u030ale Grut via Unsplash<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How does visiting an art museum make you feel? Energized? Exhausted? Inspired? Or maybe frustrated? (You call that<\/i> art?) Researchers want to know. A growing number of studies being conducted in the United States and elsewhere have been focused on the degree to which art museums promote in their visitors a sense of well-being\u2014a nebulous term that James O. Pawelski<\/a>, professor and director of education in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, defines in \u201cArt museums as institutions for human flourishing<\/a>\u201d as \u201cthe cultivation of strengths, meaning, and positive states and traits\u201d that allow us to flourish. He pointed out that well-being and flourishing don\u2019t just mean leaving \u201cin a good mood\u201d but, rather, that one has gained \u201ca sense of empathy, feeling less isolated and with a broader sense of other peoples\u2019 experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The American Alliance of Museums is currently conducting a three-year study<\/a> to \u201chelp museums measure their social impact, which can include health and well-being outcomes for visitors,\u201d according to a spokeswoman for the organization. Well-functioning art museums bring disparate people together for a shared experience, and it is the goal of the researchers involved, as well as museum officials, to find ways that intensify visitors\u2019 feelings of being part of something that breaks them out of their routines.<\/p>\n

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, is conducting its own research into this issue, having just been approved for a National Endowment for the Arts Research Grants in the Arts award of $80,000 to support a two-year well-being study examining the social, emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual effects of art museum visitation on diverse adult populations. The study is being conducted in partnership with Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia and with the Atlanta-based arts and health research firm Performance Hypothesis, which will support protocol and data collection.<\/p>\n

Barbara Steinhaus<\/a>, a professor at Brenau and one of the lead investigators in the study, told Observer that a 2019 report released by the World Health Organization<\/a> found that people who attended an arts event or participated in a group art activity reduced their feeling of social isolation by 17 percent. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at the impact an art museum has on a visitor,\u201d she said, \u201cand how people are impacted physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. Once you get there, you internalize what you\u2019re viewing and the new ideas that come to you, but you also have an emotional reaction that resonates with the different \u2018selves\u2019 we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Emerging research suggests that time spent in museums can foster empathy, reduce isolation and deepen a sense of social connection. redcharlie via Unsplash<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This all might suggest that going to a museum, or art generally, is a form of therapy<\/a>, and much of the research into the subject of museums and well-being refers to emotional, mental and physical health. Steinhaus herself teaches an Arts in Healthcare course that \u201cfocuses on utilizing art for both patients and healthcare workers. We engage in a variety of artistic endeavors to encourage the mental and emotional well-being of healthcare workers. Art, poetry, music\u2014all of these things are just one way to develop self-care methods that provide for the spirit and rest the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruggieri, however, cautions against equating well-being with wellness<\/i>. The former enables the individual to function well as an individual and in society, while \u201cwellness is temporary \u2018care\u2019 that is generally sought to relieve or prevent stress or other common disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n

One might also ask if it is important for museums to promote mental (and physical) health<\/a>. Isn\u2019t the goal of art to unsettle us rather than to make us feel good about ourselves\u2014to \u201cafflict the comfortable,\u201d as the saying goes? If I look at Edvard Munch\u2019s The Scream<\/i><\/a>, should I feel a sense of well-being or, instead, the sense of anxiety that the artist presumably intended?<\/p>\n

Steinhaus claims that both feelings can coexist. When looking at artwork that intends to unsettle, \u201ca viewer may feel a range of emotions, perhaps starting with anxiety, but also leading to a feeling of solidarity. Everyone feels tough emotions sometimes, including anxiety, so for some, viewing art that creates a visual scene of what\u2019s in their head can be a comfort; the viewer may feel less alone knowing someone else is also screaming. For a young person learning to manage stress and anxiety, knowing a famous artist also had panic attacks and created something incredible from the experience can be a light in the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SEE ALSO: <\/i><\/b>The Most Anticipated Art Museum Openings and Expansions of 2025 (Updated)<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For some, a museum is a place to learn and to be challenged\u2014one that \u201cforces us to consider viewpoints radically different than our own,\u201d Seattle-based museum consultant and researcher Susie Wilkening<\/a> told Observer. Many visitors enjoy confronting images and ideas that challenge their preconceived notions. But she added that for others, a museum is a respite\u2014an escape from everyday life. Both experiences may offer visitors a sense of well-being, although those seeking a refuge from the world might not experience Pawelski\u2019s \u201ccultivation of strengths, meaning, and positive states and traits\u201d if they encounter artworks that seemingly scream about contemporary social problems and question the viewers\u2019 elitism for going to such an institution in the first place. Perhaps the job of the curators and education staff at museums is to find ways of telling a story through art that, at least, helps visitors understand why some artist created this thing. Understanding is, after all, an element of well-being.<\/p>\n

Well-being remains a hard-to-pin-down concept, and there is no reason to assume that art museums do a better job of providing it than a zoo, an opera house or a gymnasium. Pawelski pointed out that well-being is not synonymous with \u201cfeeling good\u201d since he gets a feeling of well-being\u2014often after the fact\u2014from working out. \u201cWhen I go to the gym, I don\u2019t feel good all the time, usually the opposite. I sweat and I think I\u2019m going to die, but I know there is a beneficial effect on my muscles, heart and brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

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