🌅 Are You Getting Your Recommended Dose of Art?

SOURCE

Art Fund

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new report by British charity Art Fund calls for the establishment of a Recommended Dose of Art, encouraging people to spend at least 60 minutes with art in a museum or gallery setting each month to improve mental and physical health. The report found 89% of U.K. adults currently fall short of the recommended intake, possibly due to a severe knowledge gap: just 17% of respondents were aware that viewing art benefits mental wellbeing, while only 7% understood it has physical health benefits.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The report, led by University College London psychobiology professor Daisy Fancourt, brings together scientific evidence of the far-reaching benefits of regularly engaging with art, including studies suggesting it reduces stress, protects against dementia, lowers the risk of depression, and effectively reduces feelings of loneliness. Research also shows engaging with art can extend an individual’s healthspan, i.e., the period of life during which people are functionally fit and free from illness. The combination of mental, cognitive, and physical benefits linked to viewing art may even boost longevity, with one study showing culturally engaged people have a 31% lower risk of death over a 14-year follow-up period.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Fancourt and Art Fund argue a monthly Recommended Dose of Art should be considered alongside similar health-promoting behaviors, like daily fruit and vegetable consumption or taking 10,000 steps (though recent research shows the benefits of daily walking may actually plateau around 7,500 steps). The report includes several tips to bring more art into your life, including by exploring local institutions and visiting different types of museums to discover what resonates with you the most. In the U.K., Art Fund offers the National Art Pass, giving holders free or discounted entry to hundreds of cultural institutions throughout the country. In the U.S., most public libraries offer free or low-cost admission to partner museums, while Bank of America offers cardholders free admission to various cultural institutions during the first full weekend of every month through its Museums on Us program.