Visual Arts for Flourishing Research Toolkit: Resources for Application and Advocacy
This toolkit brings together some of the most important research suggesting how the visual arts can support flourishing, which we hope will support application and advocacy efforts of visual arts organizations and practitioners.
Individual Fact Sheets
Visual Arts and Flourishing
Flourishing is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being (and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity). Human flourishing involves both high well-being and low ill-being. Positive outcomes of engagement with the arts include sense-making, aesthetic appreciation, entertainment, and bonding.
Mental Flourishing
Mental flourishing refers to how we feel (our emotions and life satisfaction) and how we function (relationships with others, personal control, purpose in life, and independence).
Empathy and Perspective Taking
Empathy refers to the ability to put yourself in the shoes of others. Similarly, perspective-taking refers to the ability to perceive a situation or understand a concept from an alternative point of view.
Social Flourishing
Social flourishing refers to the ability to form, maintain, and develop positive relations with others that result in peace and opportunities for individual and collective advancement.
Community Flourishing
Community flourishing refers to “being well together” and to positive impacts that involvement with a community has on our health, resilience, and belonging. Community flourishing is a dynamic interplay between conditions that enable communities and community members to multiply and maintain resources for their wellness and potential fulfillment.