Art for health’s sake: community art galleries as spaces for well-being promotion through connectedness

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the relationship between community gallery spaces as (a) places for pursuing leisure and (b) a means of health promotion through connectedness. We argue that art experience in the community space is an interesting and particular form of leisure which links individuals with communities, cultures and histories. We provide a philosophical reflection on the ways that leisure and health intersect using the experience of art through community galleries as a case example. The community gallery experience as leisure raises interesting questions about the nature of leisure and the role that community spaces and resources can play in connecting individuals to the world in ways that promote their well-being. This paper is not a detailed empirical analysis, but rather a broad survey of the theoretical relationship between art, leisure and health with the aim of motivating a research agenda.

KEYWORDS:

• Experience
• social resources
• solidarity
• social capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We recognize that ‘well-being’ is defined in a wide range of ways (Atkinson, Fuller, and Painter 2012; Kearns and Andrews 2010; Schwanen and Ziegler 2011).

2 This relates to much broader debates about global justice and whether the goal of global distributive justice should be egalitarians or minimalist. For egalitarians, the goal is to create some form of equality between all persons. For minimalists the goal is to create a decent basic standard.

3 Often but not exclusively non-artists, and usually facilitated by a professional artist.

4 An example of this is the Arts on Prescription project (2019) which has demonstrated that a plausible connection exists between engaging with the arts and promoting well-being and happiness, particularly in older age. https://www.artsandhealth.org.au/arts-on-prescription-the-logical-step-for-health-and-wellbeing.

5 For example, Leisure, Arts and Lifestyle Plan: City of Belmont 2015–2018, http://www.belmont.wa.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/LAL%20Plan.pdf

6 We suggest that part of this meaningful relationship would be a sense of community fairness; that is, social relationships characterized by respect, equality and impartiality rather than power, domination, exploitation or subjugation. We do not have the space to establish this wider argument here, however, it is in line with our claims here that a sense of community solidarity is morally desirable.

7 Neither are we concerned with the question of whether non-art aesthetic experiences like watching a beautiful sunset, an experience of nature, which may also have positive implications for health.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Connal James Lee

Connal James Lee is a philosopher and ethicist. He is a lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia. His research interests include, utopianism in political philosophy, ethics and infectious diseases, art and health and understanding vulnerability in bioethics.

Sarah Jane Northcott

Sarah Jane Northcott is an independent curator and lecturer in art history. Her research interests include the philosophy of art and the aesthetics of art forgery; and Australian exhibitions, collectives and galleries in the 1970's and 1980's.