In recent years, the role of museums in promoting wellbeing and health has become increasingly important internationally. The Art, healing and museums report, published by the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), in addition to observations that emerged at the Museum Wellness Summit 2026, emphasises how museums are gradually broadening their mission. Alongside their traditional roles of conserving and promoting cultural assets, museums are developing practices focused on relational and psychological wellbeing, offering cultural experiences that encourage social integration, personal reflection and participation.
This development is consistent with the new definition of the museum adopted by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) on 24 August 2022 in Prague, which recognises the museum as a permanent institution in the service of society, working to promote participation, inclusion, sustainability and wellbeing in the community. In Italy, ICOM has also set up a longitudinal working group dedicated to these topics. A further area for examination is the wellbeing of museum employees, since cultural institutions’ ability to generate social impact depends in part on working conditions, healthcare and the quality of professional relations.
A summary of the scientific evidence, put forward by Katherine N. Cotter and James O. Pawelski of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania (Cotter & Pawelski, 2021), examines the literature on the relationship between visiting museums and human flourishing, i.e., the achievement of a person's full development and potential. Results indicate that museums may be associated both with a reduction in conditions of ill-being – such as stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression – and with the reinforcement of positive aspects of daily life, including a sense of belonging, personal satisfaction and the quality of social relationships.
Such evidence, part of a growing body of research, helps to sharpen the focus onto the role cultural institutions play in public policies that bring culture and health together. In various countries, above all in the UK, participation in artistic pursuits – including visits to museums – is increasingly integrated into Arts on Prescription programmes, which combine cultural activities with traditional health practices with the aim of improving people's health and quality of life. From this perspective, museums are no longer considered merely places for conserving and enjoying cultural assets, but relational spaces able to establish forms of engagement between cultural institutions and diverse communities. Within these contexts, skills emerge linked to both the care of cultural assets and the care of people, encouraging familiarity, engagement and a sense of wellbeing.
The Art, healing and museums report, published in December 2025 by NEMO through The Learning Museum (LEM) working group, is one of the latest examinations in Europe of the relationship between culture, health and social inclusion. With the objective of analysing the potential of museum-based art psychotherapy, the report is based on the idea that the creative process can encourage the expression of emotions and experiences that are often difficult to communicate verbally, thus enabling people to explore their inner worlds. The cultural works in museum collections can indeed provide symbolic stimuli that enable emotions and memories to emerge, while the museum space helps to create an environment that encourages concentration, contemplation and reflection.
The experience of the “No Words” programme, launched in 2023 at the National Gallery of Ireland, is the subject of special focus. The project originated out of a collaboration between the gallery's Education Department, Art Psychotherapist Andrea Plunkett and various partners from the social sector. It is a significant case study for understanding how museums can help in a practical sense to promote mental health and community wellbeing. The programme combines therapeutic practices, museum education and policies of social inclusion and is mainly aimed at people who are socially and psychologically vulnerable, including victims of domestic violence, refugees and asylum seekers. The initiative involves weekly encounters during which groups of participants are invited to observe certain works from the museum's collection, to reflect on any emotions aroused by the images and subsequently perform creative activities inspired by the visit.
A qualitative analysis of the programme, based on accounts from participants, observations by operators and contributions from partners involved, offers an initial snapshot of the positive effects of the experience. Participants reported a greater capacity to express difficult emotions and process complex experiences. Many also underlined how art allows them to deal with traumatic experiences that are difficult to describe in words, providing an alternative, more accessible channel of communication. Socially, taking part in such activities encourages the building of relations and of shared meaning, fostering the development of new connections between group members and countering feelings of isolation.
In Italy, the Education Department at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea promotes the experience of art as a tool to enhance people's all round wellbeing, generating social impact that reverberates throughout the life of the individual and of the community.
A tangible demonstration of this commitment is the Cantiere dell’arte, a participatory community art project launched in 2012 at Sant’Anna Hospital in Turin with the Fondazione Medicina a Misura di Donna, which benefits from the scientific contribution of the Cultural Welfare Center (CCW). The project builds on the numerous initiatives over many years implemented by the Education Department, such as Museo Benessere, a trial project by the ASLTo3 local health authority, which recognises the active role of culture in supporting citizens’ psycho-physical wellbeing. Many projects have been shared with local partners to benefit people who are frail and fragile, such as sufferers of Alzheimer's or aphasia along with their caregivers. For 2026, the launch is also expected of a large-scale planning unit specifically devoted to art, healthcare and wellbeing.
The annual Museum Wellness Summit (2026) is part of a programme of conferences organised since 2009 by MuseumNext – an international platform that brings together museum professionals and promotes discussion on the most innovative industry practices, involving leading institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Rijksmuseum, Tate, Smithsonian Institution, Victoria and Albert Museum and Natural History Museum. As part of a progressive redefinition of the social and political role of museums, the summit showed that the dialogue between scientific research and museum practices is becoming ever more structured, helping to build a foundation of solid evidence and experiences able to direct the definition of public policies.
The experience of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York highlights how wellbeing practices can be integrated into education programmes using a trauma-informed approach. The online course Artful Practices for Well-Being, set up in 2024 following digital trials launched during the pandemic, uses the museum collection as a starting point for reflective and creative activities designed to support connection, awareness and emotional regulation. The project is based on three principles – context, connection and choice – which guide the design of adaptable initiatives able to recognise the multiple ways in which people build their relationships with wellbeing and art. Activities include sensory practices, observation exercises, writing and mark-making associated with the body and with movement, designed to foster emotional regulation. The course was developed over ten months using a collaborative process involving museum educators, illustrators, musicians and designers.
A similar direction has emerged from the work of the Art Institute of Chicago, where the Mindful Looking programme, developed over the last three years as part of a broader strategy of integrating mindfulness into the museum experience, involves monthly encounters in the gallery where participants spend an hour or so in front of a single work, alternating between slow looking, guided meditation and facilitated conversation. At the same time, the museum has developed an audio tour based on mindfulness, designed to offer visitors an individual experience of focus and presence, distinct from more traditional models of interpretive guidance. By alternating between live experimentation and digital tools, it has been possible to construct a complementary model for accessing the contemplative experience, which has also helped to broaden the museum's audience.
The emotional aspect of the museum experience is also central to the Cultivating Awe for Well-being project, developed by the National Gallery of Art in Washington in conjunction with the University of California, Berkeley. The project led to a large-scale public experiment involving a series of workshops entitled Finding Awe at the National Gallery, comprising about 80 sessions on 20 topics and targeted at about 1,800 participating adults. The initiative was based on the research of psychologist Dacher Keltner on the emotion of awe — a sense of wonder able to transform our perception of the world and to strengthen social integration and a sense of meaning (Keltner, 2022). By means of slow looking, personal narratives and guided activities, the project explores how the museum can become a space for deliberately cultivating this experience, integrating contemplative practices and empirical assessment tools to analyse their effects on the psychological and relational health of participants.
A further related development involves the integration of cultural practices with public health systems. The initiative at Vancouver Art Gallery demonstrates how museums can become part of social prescribing mechanisms. In partnership with the BC Parks Foundation and with PaRx, the Canadian National Nature Prescription Program, the gallery launched a model that allows doctors to prescribe patients a museum visit as a wellbeing experience. Under the programme, people who receive such a prescription are entitled to free access to the gallery together with a companion, transforming the museum visit into a means of genuine social integration and health promotion.
The contribution made by the Getty Museum further widens the field of examination, showing how mindfulness practices can also be integrated into the internal working life of cultural institutions. The work begun in 2015 by Lilit Sadoyan (art historian and museum educator) introduced mindful looking programmes for visitors but, in recent years, has also been extended to museum staff with the Mindful Moment for Staff programme, which offers brief meditation sessions at the start of the working day. In December 2024, a pilot project was also introduced for conservation experts, developed with scientific partners and based on exercises involving the observation of works using mindfulness techniques and physiological monitoring. Preliminary results indicate that such techniques can improve the quality of focus, reduce stress and support better informed decision-making processes.
Considerate nel loro insieme, queste esperienze – pur con approcci e strumenti differenti, dalle pratiche contemplative alla ricerca sulle emozioni fino ai modelli di prescrizione culturale – mostrano come i musei stiano progressivamente ampliando il proprio raggio d’azione. Da luoghi dedicati prevalentemente alla conservazione delle opere, essi si configurano sempre più come infrastrutture civiche capaci di sostenere processi di ben-essere, in cui l’esperienza estetica diventa parte di un ecosistema più ampio di salute fisica, psicologica, sociale e culturale, contribuendo a coltivare meraviglia, consapevolezza e nuove forme di relazione.
Per approfondire:
Catterina Seia and Elena Rosica, Art and health: reducing inequalities through cultural participation, 30 October 2025
Catterina Seia and Marta Reichlin, Flourishing throught the arts, 30 April 2024
Catterina Seia and Sara Uboldi, Want to think about your health? The doctor will see you in a library or museum, 30 May 2022
Catterina Seia and Sara Uboldi,NNature, symbols and relation. Public archaeology as a therapeutic practice, 29 March 2022
Catterina Seia and Sara Uboldi, Well-being becomes a meaningful horizon for museums, 22 February 2022,
Catterina Seia and Annalisa Cicerchia, Art makes me feel better, 11 May 2021