Welcome back, we’re glad to send a belated hello to you in 2026.

As museums worldwide continue to expand their role from cultural repositories to vital healing spaces, this first quarter has brought exciting developments in museum-based art therapy and wellness programming. The field is experiencing remarkable momentum from groundbreaking research validating the therapeutic mechanisms of museum experiences to new institutional programs serving diverse communities. Whether you're a museum professional, art therapist, researcher, or advocate, here's what shaped the conversation from January through March.

Minette & Brooke

P.S. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to explore our newest addition: The IMI Podcast. In the season, Brooke hosts wonderful interviews with leading museum curators, educators, art therapists, and more. Paid subscribers have access to full, unedited interviews.

Some Recent Museum-Based Art Therapy Updates From Around the Web:

Arts on prescription is now officially active in Greece as a governmental initiative (hope you can read Greek!), following a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministries of Culture and Health, aimed at boosting mental health through cultural activities. The program, often referred to as “Art on Prescription” or Cultural Prescription, allows health professionals to refer individuals to structured, free-of-charge creative activities like dance, museum visits, and visual arts.

At the tail-end of 2025, an architectural study investigated the restorative benefits of art museum spatial structures in Japan by integrating Space Syntax Theory and Attention Restoration Theory (ART).Correlation analysis indicated that certain SVCs of art museums were significantly associated with restorative benefits.

A study on museotherapy with Chinese youth was published on January 16, 2026 in Frontiers in Psychology, examining emotional experiences of 81 university students during workshops at the Shanghai University Museum. The research identified a characteristic "W-shaped" emotion curve and found 83.33% positive emotional shifts among participants.

Dr. Kathryn Snyder published her research on museum-based art therapy from the perspective of museum professionals and the potential for art therapy in museum and cultural spaces.

The Museum Wellbeing Summit 2026 took place virtually on January 28-29, bringing together case studies from around the world on how museums support community health, including work with NEET youth, healthcare professionals, and addressing climate emotions.

The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens will launch free wellness workshops for adults 65+ starting March 30, 2026. The eight-week program, led by a psychologist and art psychotherapist, explores themes including personal happiness, relationships, coping with loss, and resilience techniques through artistic activities like painting and clay work.

The New York Times article "An Overlooked Prescription for Happiness" by Jancee Dunn was published in February 2026. The piece features Dr. Daisy Fancourt, a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London who has studied the effects of arts on health for 15 years. Dr. Fancourt recognizes the arts as "the forgotten fifth pillar of health.” This article helps bring museotherapy and arts-based wellness into the mainstream health conversation. The article specifically mentions museums as therapeutic spaces and provides practical advice for incorporating arts into daily life. This also comes in conjunction with her new book “Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives.”

The New Orleans Museum of Art announced on January 26 an expansion of wellness programs, doubling their tai chi and yoga offerings starting February 26 with new Wednesday classes in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden. This reflects the museum’s commitment to holistic creative programming and community wellbeing. They also have a wonderful program called Creative Aging, which you can find here or by clicking the image below.

If you are in the museum, art therapy, or museotherapy world and you are hiring, feel free to drop a line. If you’re a graduate student or someone looking for a job in the field or want to get involved with IMI, please don’t hesitate to do the same.

For this conversation, I spoke with Maria Büter, a research associate and clinical art therapist at the Sigmund Freud University Berlin. Her work is part of Opening Up New Spaces with Art Therapy in Museums, a program that brings psychodynamic and receptive art therapy approaches into museum settings through structured workshops, research initiatives, and clinical training.

What follows is a conversation about museums as functional partners in mental health work. About prevention rather than crisis. About structure without clinical framing. And about what art therapy can look like when it meets people where they already are.
Please enjoy this written interview!

Illustration on the interior of a Greek kylix, Achilles dressing the wounds of Patroclus, Attic red figure, Vulci, Italy, ca. 500 BC, signed by the potter Sosias © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung / Johannes Laurentius

Brooke Christensen: How did the Art Therapy in Museums project originate at SFU Berlin, and what theoretical or clinical ideas inspired it?

Maria Büter: The project originated at SFU Berlin at the intersection of clinical experience, academic teaching, and a growing interest in preventive formats beyond classical psychotherapy. Within the Department of Psychotherapy Science and the Clinical Art Therapy program, we repeatedly encountered students and patients who were psychologically burdened but not necessarily in need of—or ready for—clinical treatment.

It began with a simple curiosity: What happens when you take therapy out of the clinic and into a museum? We were inspired by psychodynamic ideas—how people project, reflect, and find meaning—and wondered how artworks could catalyze these processes. Clinically, we were drawn to the idea that museums might offer a safe yet stimulating environment for emotional exploration and self-expression. The first project by the SFU of this sort was actually conducted in Celle in 2019, where students were able to carry out diverse workshops, combining art therapy and museum education.

At the same time, SFU Berlin has a strong foundation in receptive art therapy, which focuses on aesthetic experience, inner imagery, and symbolic resonance rather than artistic production alone. The collaboration with the Altes Museum and the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin provided a unique opportunity to translate these theoretical concepts into an embodied, real-world practice. From the beginning, the project was conceived both as a research initiative and as a structured workshop series closely linked to teaching and training at SFU Berlin.

Christensen: In your view, what distinguishes a museum setting as a therapeutic environment compared to a traditional clinical one?

Büter: Museums are special because they are public yet contemplative. They offer a rich symbolic world in which people can explore, reflect, and connect—without the walls or expectations of a therapy room. Entering a museum does not mean becoming a patient; it means engaging with art.

This shift is crucial. In the museum, it is less about “being treated” and more about discovering something about oneself in dialogue with an artwork. In our workshops at the Antikensammlung in the Altes Museum, this difference is immediately tangible. Participants encounter artworks in a calm atmosphere that supports slowness and openness.

The museum becomes a shared external space where inner experiences can emerge indirectly, through engagement with art rather than through direct self-disclosure. This significantly lowers psychological thresholds and supports participation motivated by curiosity, reflection, and self-care rather than pathology.

Christensen: What psychological or psychodynamic processes do you observe emerging uniquely within museum spaces?

Büter: We observe projection and transference in a particularly vivid way. People often relate personally to artworks, and this relationship sparks reflection, insight, and emotional movement. Through receptive engagement, inner images, memories, and associations emerge spontaneously—they are not imposed, but discovered.

Works of art offer a subjective space for experience in which emotional effects can develop and a psycho-aesthetic experience becomes possible. In modern art psychology, works of art are characterized by self-preservation, self-transformation, and self-catalysis. All of this happens through the radiation of the energy that was once formed into it by the artists.

The museum context also enhances symbolic distancing. Artworks act as mediators between inner and outer reality, allowing participants to speak about an artwork and, through that, indirectly about themselves. This facilitates affect regulation, reflection, and the development of an individual aesthetic standpoint.

In group settings, there is also a communal dimension: participants resonate with one another’s interpretations, creating shared meaning. This collective resonance supports emotional growth while respecting individual boundaries.

Christensen: Could you describe a specific collaboration between SFU and a museum that felt particularly transformative?

Büter: The ongoing collaboration with the Altes Museum and the Antikensammlung has been particularly transformative because it brings together research, teaching, and public engagement. The workshop series functions not only as a research project but also as a binding educational format for SFU students, with the possibility of practicum recognition.

At the same time, we have witnessed deeply moving moments in earlier collaborations, including with contemporary art collections. In one workshop, a participant who had great difficulty expressing emotions verbally found a way to communicate grief through responding artistically to an abstract artwork. Experiences like these reveal the museum as a catalyst for emotional and creative breakthroughs.

For participants, engaging in a structured, recurring group within a museum often leads to a new sense of belonging—both to the group and to the cultural space itself. For us as clinicians and educators, these collaborations have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of museums as active partners in mental health promotion rather than passive venues.

Christensen: What challenges arise when translating clinical frameworks into public or educational museum contexts?

Büter: One of the main challenges is balancing openness with safety and structure. Museums are not controlled environments like clinics—there are visitors, movement, and distractions—yet therapeutic processes still require containment.

A central concern is maintaining therapeutic clarity without transforming the museum into a clinical space. Our workshops are explicitly framed as health-promoting group offerings, not psychotherapy. This requires careful language, transparent communication, and a clearly structured format.

Another challenge lies in interdisciplinary collaboration. Museum professionals primarily work within educational frameworks, while clinicians focus on psychological processes. Ongoing dialogue and shared planning are essential. We address these challenges through fixed group sizes, mandatory participation, and a clearly defined workshop sequence that allows both freedom and containment.

Christensen: How do you navigate confidentiality, containment, and boundaries in spaces that are both public and therapeutic?

Büter: From the outset, we are very clear with participants about confidentiality, respectful interaction, and the limits of the setting. We create physical and temporal boundaries by working in designated museum spaces and within defined time frames.

Group sizes are limited to around 10–12 participants, and participation is based on commitment to the full workshop series. Each session follows a consistent structure: a short guided relaxation, dialogical artwork viewing, a creative phase, and a moderated group conversation.

This structure provides psychological containment, while debriefings and reflective prompts help participants process experiences without exposing sensitive material in public. Many participants experience the museum itself as a stabilizing container—public enough to feel safe, yet structured enough to allow vulnerability.

Christensen: How do cultural and societal attitudes toward mental health in Germany and Europe shape your approach?

Büter: In Germany and across Europe, mental health is increasingly discussed, yet stigma and access barriers remain. There is also a strong cultural emphasis on privacy. For this reason, we deliberately frame our museum-based formats as creative and reflective workshops rather than therapy.

Museums enjoy a high level of social trust. Art therapy in this context makes it possible to understand mental well-being as part of everyday cultural life—and not just as a medical issue. Our approach is based on European traditions of public education and cultural participation. The integration of people with mental and physical disabilities is particularly important to us. Through barrier-free museum offerings and preventive measures, we promote inclusive access to art and culture.

By focusing on curiosity, aesthetic experience, and self-reflection, we respond to the need for low-threshold, non-stigmatizing support services.

Christensen: What might art therapists and museum professionals in the U.S. learn from the European model, and vice versa?

Büter: The European model highlights close collaboration between therapists, universities, and cultural institutions as part of preventive health strategies. This integration of art therapy into public cultural infrastructure may be particularly instructive internationally.

At the same time, U.S. programs often place strong emphasis on evaluation, measurable outcomes, and community outreach. These approaches could further strengthen European initiatives. A transatlantic exchange could help develop programs that are both deeply experiential and rigorously supported by research.

Christensen: What kinds of psychological outcomes or shifts have you observed in participants?

Büter: Participants frequently report increased calmness, emotional clarity, and a renewed sense of connection—to themselves, to others, and to art. Many gain emotional insight, creative expression, and a stronger sense of agency. Group settings often enhance social connection and empathy. Our pilot-research also showed, that participants in general felt more positive emotions (like feeling activated joyful) and less negative emotions after the workshops compared to before.

Anecdotally, moments stand out when participants articulate inner experiences through images or creative gestures that had previously remained diffuse or inaccessible. For example, individuals struggling with grief have found nonverbal ways to express their emotions through engagement with sculpture or painting. These moments often mark meaningful shifts toward self-awareness and well-being, which is why the project is accompanied by ongoing evaluation.

Christensen: Looking ahead, how do you envision the role of art therapists evolving within museums and other cultural institutions?

Büter: We see art therapists becoming integral to museums—not just leading workshops, but collaborating on exhibitions, community engagement, and education. Museums could become hybrid spaces for mental well-being, creativity, and reflection. Therapists may increasingly advocate for mental health in public spaces, expanding how people access and experience therapy.

Over the next decade, we see art therapists increasingly working as mediators between artworks and audiences. Their role will extend beyond education toward supporting reflective, inclusive, and health-promoting encounters with art.

Museums may increasingly collaborate with art therapists to develop structured programs that address well-being, inclusion, and social resilience. In this sense, art therapists contribute to opening “new spaces” within cultural institutions—spaces that care not only for collections, but for human experience.

Thank you for reading. I’m forever grateful to Maria Büter and the staff at Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversität Berlin for their openness to this interview and for the time and thought invested in these responses.

For this conversation, we spoke with Pascaline Bonnave, an art therapist at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, where she has led museum-based art therapy groups for over thirteen years. Her work focuses on welcoming people who might not otherwise feel that the museum is “for them,” and transforming a public, historic space into a place of care, containment, and creative expression.

A brief transparency note: I (Brooke) don’t speak French fluently. The interview questions were translated into French using trusty ol’ Google Translate, and Pascaline generously responded in French. This also goes for the French title and byline as well. In our correspondence, Pascaline also expressed a desire for the interview to be accessible to English-speaking readers, so both French and English versions are included here. Any awkward phrasing is mine, not hers.

What follows is a conversation about creating a therapeutic bubble inside a public institution, and why art, culture, and care don’t need to exist in separate worlds. Please enjoy this written interview!

Claude Monet’s Houses of Parliament, London from the collection at Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille

Pascaline Bonnave: Working at the museum means having the works available as an entry point into the session, which takes place as follows:

· Welcome and presentation time

· Visit time with objectives according to the problems of the groups

· Creative time in the workshop, project adapted to the objectives related to the work presented

· Sharing time oriented according to the project

· Time to say goodbye

Brooke Christensen: How would you describe your role as an art therapist here at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille?

Bonnave: My role is to welcome a public who would not necessarily have come to the museum on their own initiative. A place that can be impressive. Some people are unable to leave their homes, others still think that the museum is not a place for them. They did not have access to it because of their social background. Coming with a group of people, supervised by a caregiver, is reassuring. It is a first step towards autonomy to return alone or, later, with your family.

Christensen: How does working in a museum differ from working in a practice or other traditional therapeutic setting?

Bonnave: The major difference is that the groups are welcomed in a public space, the museum is municipal. It is a place of conservation of works of art that testifies to our past on a social, cultural and artistic level. It is part of our collective memory.

Having an appointment at the museum, being invited, being expected there is rewarding. It is to integrate socially. It brings to life and testifies to its existence in this magnificent place, a place of art and culture. The work of the art therapist is to create a containing bubble with health objectives so that this place becomes a place of care.

The work of art, starting point of the session, allows you to immerse yourself in a primary emotion in contemplation, to solicit the sensory sensors. The work brings reflection and the expression of one’s feelings in sharing. It is to become familiar with verbal communication, to dare to speak in front of and with others. Assert your taste, without risk. Looking at a painting fully allows you to turn outwards and leave your ruminations aside. It is also the starting point for inspiration to develop a personal artistic project in the second part of the session. To apprehend a work of art is also to have access to culture. Knowledge of a painting brings social, historical and artistic enrichment. Also take an interest in the artist, the human being at the origin of the work in a historical context.

The museum offers a time for oneself out of time in the contemplation of works of art.

Christensen: When preparing for a session, how do you choose the works or places in the museum that you are going to use?

Bonnave: I carefully choose the work or works according to my groups in connection with the artistic project that follows and especially according to my care objectives. Do they need to develop their creativity, let go, concentrate, reconnect with the outside world, etc.? The choice of different mediums will also be decisive in achieving my session objectives.

I avoid works that can awaken trauma, make them uncomfortable or hurt the sensibilities of the people in charge.

Christensen: Who do you work with the most, and how do they react to being in a museum?

Bonnave: I welcome groups from different places of care, or different departments of the hospital. Children, adolescents and adults. Adolescents in psychiatric care with various disorders. People diagnosed with Alzheimer’s with their caregiver. Couples followed in assisted reproduction. The league against cancer. Children with autism spectrum disorders. Adults in social reintegration. I also went to prison for “off-site” sessions. I also offer screenings for the general public, people can register via the museum’s website for single screenings on Friday mornings and also on Wednesday evenings all year round.

Coming to the museum is a prestigious outing, it is a cultural, artistic and social place. For some people, it is difficult to get out of the house. Once through the security gate, they are no longer patients but visitors. They may be impressed during their first visit but I wait for them at the reception and reassure them, always with kindness, I introduce myself and present them with the course of the session which always follows the same ritual in order to give them bearings.

Christensen: What are some small challenges or unforeseen events that you encounter while working in a public space like this?

Bonnave: Today, after thirteen years of practice at the museum, I no longer encounter any difficulties. I now have a place dedicated to art therapy, which is a bubble built within the atrium, out of sight, like a reassuring cocoon. Before, I didn’t have a dedicated space and it was difficult to occupy a space that met the standards I wanted, a space containing as a priority. It is also by communicating with the surveillance agents that the reception of these different audiences goes smoothly. I was also able to raise their awareness by offering them an art therapy session.

Christensen: Without going into personal details, was there a moment when you said to yourself: “Yes, that’s why art therapy in museums is important”?

Bonnave: Yes, every day confirms the interest of art therapy in the museum! Practicing in this place is magical! Having the works available is an entry point into the session as a first impression, this first impression that will lead to expression, whether verbal or artistic. This creates a bubble where it is no longer possible to think about anything other than being here and now in the museum!

Christensen: How do you find the balance between what the museum wants to offer and the needs of your participants?

Bonnave: The museum wants to be inclusive, welcoming different audiences contributes to this. Sometimes they are first-time visitors, who then return accompanied. The museum offers art therapy care, with an adapted schedule throughout the year. Patients are prescribed by the healthcare team. I organize my sessions to meet the needs and problems of the groups with objectives discussed beforehand with the various caregivers. I am part of the team of visual guides with a different audience. From the outside, you can’t see the difference. (I don’t know if I’m answering the question correctly).

Christensen: Here at PBA Lille, what does “well-being” mean to you in your daily practice?

Bonnave: I prefer to talk about “well-being”! I put everything in place so that people participate and finish the session better than when they arrived! My primary objective is for people to feel good, to forget their problems, to be able to create, to leave with a production they are not proud of, to be able to talk about this past moment, to dare to repeat the experience!

Christensen: What do you think art therapy in museums allows that other places cannot?

Bonnave: The museum is a place where works of art are kept and that bear witness to our common history. Each work is a starting point for a project. It is a good place to immerse yourself and stop thinking about your illness. It’s realizing that you’re alive and still able to be interested in art, to create, to be able to tell the story of your visit, to talk about something other than your illness. To leave with his production, to show it, to be proud and to want to continue.

The museum offers a vital boost!

Christensen: If there was one thing that other museums or therapists should know about this work, what would it be?

Bonnave: I think that benevolence is essential. Always welcome the public as if it were the first time, by being available with an ability to bounce back in the face of the unexpected. Have adaptability and creativity. In the context of a public place, it is very important that reception and surveillance agents are made aware of these fragile groups.

And give it your all! What we bring back to us is given back to us by the visible contentment of these visitors wounded by life.

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Le musée comme bulle de soin

Quand l’art-thérapie ouvre l’accès à la culture, au lien et à l’autonomie

Un entretien avec Pascaline Bonnave,

art-thérapeute au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille,

où elle accompagne depuis plus de treize ans des publics fragilisés à travers des dispositifs d’art-thérapie intégrés au musée.

Cet entretien s’inscrit dans une série en cours qui explore la manière dont l’art-thérapie existe au-delà du cadre clinique, notamment au sein des musées, des institutions publiques et des espaces culturels partagés. L’un des objectifs de cette série est de mettre en lumière des voix internationales, d’autant plus que de nombreux programmes de muséothérapie et d’art-thérapie en milieu muséal sont plus développés à l’international qu’ils ne le sont actuellement aux États-Unis.

Pour cette conversation, nous avons échangé avec Pascaline Bonnave, art-thérapeute au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, où elle anime des groupes d’art-thérapie en musée depuis plus de treize ans. Son travail vise à accueillir des personnes qui ne se sentiraient pas spontanément légitimes dans un musée, et à transformer cet espace public et patrimonial en un lieu de soin, de contenance et de création.

Petite note de transparence : je (Brooke) ne parle pas couramment le français. Les questions de l’entretien ont donc été traduites en français à l’aide de notre fidèle Google Traduction, et Pascaline a très généreusement répondu en français. Cela vaut également pour le titre et la signature en français. Au fil de nos échanges, Pascaline a aussi exprimé le souhait que cet entretien soit accessible aux lecteur·rices anglophones ; c’est pourquoi les versions française et anglaise sont toutes deux proposées ici. Toute maladresse de formulation m’est entièrement attribuable — et non à elle.

Ce qui suit est une conversation bilingue autour de la création d’une « bulle thérapeutique » au sein d’une institution publique, et de la manière dont art, culture et soin peuvent coexister sans frontières.

Bonne lecture !

Pascaline Bonnave: Travailler au musée, c’est avoir les œuvres à disposition comme point d’entrée dans la séance qui se déroule comme suit :

· Temps d’accueil et de présentation

· Temps de visite avec objectifs selon les problématiques des groupes

· Temps créatif en atelier, projet adapté aux objectifs en lien avec l’œuvre présentée

· Temps de partage orienté selon le projet

· Temps pour se dire aurevoir

Brooke Christensen: Comment décririez-vous votre rôle d’art-thérapeute ici au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille ?

Bonnave: Mon rôle est d’accueillir un public qui ne serait pas forcément venu au musée de sa propre initiative. Lieu qui peut être impressionnant. Certaines personnes sont dans l’incapacité de sortir de chez elle, d’autres encore pensent que le musée n’est pas un endroit pour eux. Ils n’y ont pas eu accès de par leur milieu social. Venir avec un groupe constitué, encadré par un soignant rassure. C’est un premier pas vers l’autonomie pour y revenir seul ou, plus tard en famille.

Christensen: En quoi le travail en musée diffère-t-il du travail en cabinet ou dans un autre lieu thérapeutique traditionnel ?

Bonnave: La différence majeure est d’accueillir les groupes dans un espace public, le musée est municipal. C’est un lieu de conservation d’œuvres d’art qui témoigne de notre passé autant au niveau social, culturel et artistique. Il fait partie de notre mémoire collective.

Avoir rendez-vous au musée, y être invité, y être attendu est valorisant. C’est s’intégrer socialement. Cela rend vivant et témoigne de son existence dans ce lieu magnifique, lieu d’art et de culture. Le travail de l’art-thérapeute est de créer une bulle contenante avec des objectifs sanitaires afin que ce lieu devienne lieu de soins.

L’œuvre d’art, point de départ de la séance, permet de s’imprégner d’une émotion première dans la contemplation, solliciter les capteurs sensoriels. L’oeuvre amène une réflexion et l’expression de ses ressentis dans le partage. C’est se familiariser avec la communication verbale, oser parler devant et avec les autres. Affirmer son goût, sans risque.

Regarder pleinement une peinture permet de se tourner vers l’extérieur et de laisser de côté ses ruminations. C’est également le point de départ de l’inspiration pour élaborer un projet artistique personnel en seconde partie de séance. Appréhender une œuvre d’art c’est aussi accéder à la culture. La connaissance d’une peinture amène un enrichissement autant social, historique qu’artistique. S’intéresser également à l’artiste, l’être humain à l’origine de l’œuvre dans un contexte historique.

Le musée offre un temps pour soi hors du temps dans la contemplation des œuvres d’art.

Christensen: Quand vous préparez une séance, comment choisissez-vous les œuvres ou les endroits du musée que vous allez utiliser ?

Bonnave: Je choisis avec soin l’œuvre ou les œuvres en fonction de mes groupes en lien avec le projet artistique qui suit et surtout en fonction de mes objectifs de soins. Ont-ils besoin de développer leur créativité, de lâcher-prise, de concentration, de se reconnecter avec l’extérieur, etc. Le choix des différents médiums va être également décisif pour atteindre mes objectifs de séance.

J’évite les œuvres pouvant réveiller des traumatismes, mettre mal à l’aise ou heurter la sensibilité des personnes prises en charge.

Christensen: Avec quels publics travaillez-vous le plus, et comment réagissent-ils au fait d’être dans un musée ?

Bonnave: J’accueille des groupes venant de différents lieux de soins, ou différents services du centre hospitalier. Enfants, adolescents et adultes. Des adolescents en suivi psychiatrique présentant diverses troubles. Des personnes diagnostiqués Alzheimer avec leur aidant. Des couples suivis en procréation médicale assistée. La ligue contre le cancer. Des enfants présentant des troubles du spectre autistique. Des adultes en réinsertion sociale. Je me suis également déplacée en prison pour des séances « hors les murs ».

Je propose également des séances tout public, les personnes peuvent s’inscrire via le site du musée pour des séances à l’unité le vendredi matin et aussi le mercredi soir à l’année.

Venir au musée est une sortie prestigieuse, c’est un lieu culturel, artistique et social. Pour certaines personnes, il est difficile de sortir de chez soi. Une fois le portique de sécurité passé, ce ne sont plus des patients mais des visiteurs. Ils peuvent être impressionnés lors de leur première visite mais je les attends à l’accueil et les rassure, toujours avec bienveillance, je me présente et leur présente le déroulé de la séance qui suit toujours le même rituel afin de leur donner des repères.

Christensen: Quels sont les petits défis ou imprévus que vous rencontrez en travaillant dans un espace public comme celui-ci ?

Bonnave: Aujourd’hui, après treize années de pratique au musée, je ne rencontre plus de difficulté. J’ai maintenant un lieu dédié à l’art-thérapie, qui est une bulle construite au sein de l’atrium, à l’abri des regards, comme un cocon rassurant. Avant, je n’avais pas d’espace dédié et c’était difficile d’occuper un espace répondant aux normes que je souhaitais, un espace contenant en priorité.

C’est aussi en communiquant avec les agents de surveillance que l’accueil de ces publics différents se déroule sans heurt. J’ai pu les sensibiliser également en leur proposant une séance d’art-thérapie.

Christensen: Sans entrer dans les détails personnels, y a-t-il un moment où vous vous êtes dit : “Oui, c’est pour ça que l’art-thérapie en musée est importante” ?

Oui, chaque jour confirme l’intérêt de l’art-thérapie au musée ! Pratiquer dans ce lieu est magique ! Avoir les œuvres à disposition est un point d’entrée dans la séance comme première impression, cette première impression qui va entrainer l’expression, quelle soit verbale ou artistique. Cela permet de créer une bulle où il n’est plus possible de penser à autre chose que d’être ici et maintenant au musée !

Christensen: Comment trouvez-vous l’équilibre entre ce que le musée souhaite proposer et les besoins de vos participants ?

Bonnave: Le musée se veut inclusif, accueillir des publics différents y contribue. Ce sont parfois des primo visiteurs, qui reviennent ensuite accompagnés.

Le musée propose une prise en charge en art-thérapie, avec un planning adapté sur l’année. Les patients sont prescrits par l’équipe soignante. J’organise mes séances pour répondre aux besoins et problématiques des groupes avec des objectifs discutés en amont avec les différents soignants. Je fais partie de l’équipe des guides plasticiens avec un public différent. De l’extérieur on ne voit pas la différence. (Je ne sais pas si je réponds correctement à la question).

Christensen: Ici au PBA Lille, qu’est-ce que “le bien-être” signifie pour vous dans votre pratique quotidienne ?

Bonnave: Je préfère parler de « mieux-être » ! Je mets tout en place pour que les personnes participent et finissent la séance en étant mieux qu’en arrivant ! Mon objectif premier est que les personnes se sentent bien, qu’elles oublient leurs problèmes, qu’elles soient en capacité de créer, qu’elles repartent avec une production dont elles sont fières, qu’elles puissent parler de ce moment passé, qu’elles osent renouveler l’expérience !

Christensen: Qu’est-ce que l’art-thérapie en musée permet, selon vous, que d’autres lieux ne permettent pas ?

Bonnave: Le musée est un lieu de conservation d’œuvres qui témoigne de notre histoire commune. Chaque œuvre est un point de départ pour un projet. C’est un lieu propice pour s’immerger et ne plus penser à sa maladie. C’est se rendre compte qu’on est vivant et encore capable de s’intéresser à l’art, de créer, de pouvoir ensuite raconter sa visite, parler d’autre chose que sa maladie. Repartir avec sa production, la montrer, être fier et avoir envie de continuer.

Le musée offre un élan vital !

Christensen: S’il y avait une seule chose que les autres musées ou thérapeutes devraient savoir sur ce travail, ce serait quoi ?

Bonnave: Je pense que la bienveillance est primordiale. Toujours accueillir le public comme si c’était la première fois, en étant disponible avec une capacité à rebondir face à des imprévus. Avoir une adaptabilité et une créativité. Dans le contexte d’un lieu publique, il est très important que les agents d’accueil et de surveillance soient sensibilisés à ces publics fragiles.

Et se donner à fond ! Ce que l’on apporte nous est rendu par le contentement visible de ces visiteurs blessés par la vie.

At this 17th century villa, surrounded by gardens and Roman archaeological sites, sits 68 paintings and gouaches, 236 drawings, 218 prints, and 57 sculptures and personal objects dated from 1890 all the way to his final cut-out works.

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This museum visit recap was originally intended for our paid subscribers, however, in observance of the national strike, this article will be free to all members. Please enjoy.

This past winter, I had an incredible opportunity to visit the Musée l'Orangerie in Paris, France, to witness Claude Monet’s The Water Lilies. My expectation was that there would be one big room. However, there were two rooms in the building for his series— eight compositions, four in each room. I also learned that Monet designed this viewing space himself, stating that his intention was to provide the viewer with the “illusion of an endless whole, of a wave without horizon and without shore.” Even the sunlight coming in from the center of the ceiling washes the room with light that is muted with many layers. You can take a virtual tour here.

Monet expressed a profound sense of guilt about making art while World War I was raging around him, just miles from his home in Giverny. At the same time, he was grieving the loss of his son and wife while his country was being torn apart. In a letter from 1914, he wrote: “Yesterday I resumed my work. It’s the best way to avoid thinking of these sad times. All the same, I feel ashamed to think about my little researches into form and colour while so many people are suffering and dying…” Yet, he created these beautiful pieces of beauty and tranquility.

In times of sustained turbulence, the act of creating or seeking out beauty isn’t escapism; it’s a form of preserving what makes life worth living. Monet created the The Water Lilies to offer a “haven of peaceful meditation.” Today, they are permanently housed in the Musée de l’Orangerie as a symbol of peace and beauty, memorializing the end of WWI.

Some other notable artists who created through difficult circumstances include Frida Kahlo, who dealt with lifelong pain from a devastating bus accident and polio. Still, she created some of her most powerful self-portraits while bedridden or recovering from surgeries. Francisco Goya continued painting afer becoming deaf in his 40s and produced his haunting “Black Paintings” during Spain’s tumultous political upheaval and his own isolation. Ai Weiwei created art while facing government surveillance, detention, and censorship in China, using his work to advocate for human rights despite personal risk. Käthe Kollwitz created profound works about war, poverty, and loss in early 20th century Germany, even continuing to create as she lost her son in WWI.

These artists show how creativity can not only survive adversity but can be deepened and refined by it. Their struggles often became integral to their artistic vision rather than obstacles to overcome.

We share this article now in response to simliar doubts and questions rising from artists during this tense political climate. We hear “does art even matter right now?” and “how do I create when all of this is going on?” To that, we (including Monet) would all remind you: art doesn’t only matter now, it matters now more than ever.

It was my first day as the new studio intern at Contemporary Craft and I was filled with both excitement and anxiety when I walked in the front door. I’d never worked in a museum or maker space before, so it was brand new territory for me. I knew that I’d be helping the studio manager maintain their maker spaces but, other than that, I had no idea what to expect. Typically I would’ve let myself become lost in my fears. Instead, I was drawn in by the incredible artwork that greeted me as I entered the gallery space. As I walked around, slowly spending time with each piece of art, I became more grounded in the present moment and my fears melted away.

As the days went by, I quickly fell into a routine in my new role. Along with studio maintenance, I ended up doing quite a bit of administrative work, which I eventually ended up enjoying. I was also learning how to repair and maintain the equipment in the various makers spaces: a metals studio, a wood studio, and a large multi-purpose space. I felt comfortable working with the metals equipment, since metalsmithing was my concentration in my undergraduate program, but I couldn’t say the same for the rest. I learned how to repair kilns, band saws, sewing machines, and more! It was difficult, but little by little I was able to build up my skills and confidence and before I knew it, my summer internship was over. Thankfully, I was hired back on for a one year studio apprenticeship after graduation; it felt like a dream come true!

As the studio apprentice, maintenance still took up the majority of my time, but I was often asked to assist the other museum departments now too. Since the museum was so small, it was common to collaborate across departments; For events or large exhibition installations, it was often all-hands-on-deck. Some of my favorite tasks were installing small exhibitions in the studio’s display cases, installing large artworks in the main gallery, and even inventorying the museum’s permanent collection! There are so many small yet important tasks that go into making a small museum function and it felt amazing to be a part of it.

Another aspect of my work as the studio apprentice was to assist with community outreach programs. These programs varied quite a bit, but some highlights were an after school rag-rug workshop for teens and a month-long summer camp focused on building meaningful skills in the arts. The most memorable outreach program that I got to participate in was actually the one that inspired me to revisit my dream of becoming an art therapist. The program was designed by an art therapist and run by museum volunteers. Every other week the volunteers and I would go to the local women’s shelter and teach the children how to sew small square pillows. When the children were finished sewing, we would ask them to imagine their hopes and dreams for the future, and then draw them onto the pillows. The idea was that they would put them under their actual pillows at night to help them keep their dreams alive. This experience truly showed me the healing power of art and it’s one of the reasons I felt such a strong pull towards the field of art therapy.

Community art spaces (like museums, makers spaces, etc.) are something that I feel fundamentally drawn to. There’s a “healing magic” that happens while creating and viewing art in community that I can’t quite explain with words. So, whether it be through museums, open art therapy studios, or clinical work, I want to help facilitate that magic in my career.

If you’d like to get updates on future content from me, you can follow me on LinkedIn.

I put together a short vlog from my recent visit to the Meadows Museum. It is a mix of videos, photos, and a few off-the-cuff reflections as I moved through the galleries. It’s not a formal tour or an academic breakdown. It’s closer to how I actually experience museums thro…

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I arrived at the Meadows Museum right when it opened, a little earlier than necessary, mostly because I was genuinely excited to finally meet Dr. Galuban in person. The museum was picturesque, perched at the edge of SMU’s campus, emerging from the mature trees like an ornament hanging from the branch of a Christmas tree. I messaged her to let her know I was in the lobby and ready to meet, trying to play it cool while very much not playing it cool.

She told me she’d received special permission for me to attend the Connections Group we had discussed extensively in her interview. I felt moved by the thoughtfulness of it and, after walking away and heading up the stairs into the gallery, I texted my husband to see if he could pick up our youngest from preschool so I could stay. His reply came quickly, enthusiastic and reassuring.

Her invitation landed softly but changed the shape of the morning. With time before the group started, I moved into the galleries, letting myself wander through the museum for the first time. The light felt careful. The museum was quiet in that particular way museums are before they fill, polite, echoing, almost self-conscious.

I started with a photography exhibition, then drifted into the Renaissance galleries, where everything felt steady and unmoved by time or urgency. The rooms felt awake but not yet busy, like they were waiting to see who would show up. Eventually, I found myself standing in front of Picasso’s Still Life in a Landscape (1915). I wasn’t trying to decode it or store it away for later. I was just there, noticing how easy it was to wait when there was something worth looking at.

When it was time for the group, I went down to the conference room and saw Dr. Galuban in her element. I told her I would find a spot to observe and stay out of the way, but she encouraged me to be part of the group.

I took a seat among two elderly couples, and within minutes two women were reminiscing about hanging cloth diapers on the clothesline. When I mentioned that I had also cloth diapered my oldest son, Owen, during the pandemic, the table lit up. From there, the conversation drifted naturally from art therapy to life more broadly. Integrating myself into the group felt easy, intergenerational, and unexpectedly intimate.

Dr. Galuban led a discussion centered on Fátima (1927) by Eduardo Chicharro y Agüera, inviting us to sit with the image of a Moroccan woman with facial tattoos, her body partially veiled by sheer fabric. The group lingered with the painting—naming details, questioning assumptions, letting the image hold more than one meaning at once.

We ended by making tote bags using vinyl cutouts and patterned materials. Simple, tactile, and grounding. It felt less like an “activity” and more like a quiet way of coming back into community after the conversation.

I didn’t leave feeling like I had “seen” the Meadows, but instead experienced it through the people there.

Become a paid subscriber to see the videos and photos I took during my visit!

As the year closes, may the holidays offer moments of reflection, creativity, and connection both inside museums and beyond them. Wishing you a restful and meaningful holiday season.

Minette & Brooke

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IMI Highlights from 2025

• The IMI Podcast launched! Hosted and produced by our COO Brooke Christensen, the podcast has sparked influential conversations about creative wellness and the intersection of therapy and cultural spaces. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or stream through the links we send straight from our page.

• Global Collaborations: We’ve deepened partnerships with art therapists, museums, and academic institutions across North America and Europe, co-creating healing-centered museum programs.

• Research and Education: Founder Minette Hand shared groundbreaking work on embedding art therapy in museums at the 2024 AATA Conference while Brooke Christensen shared at the 2025 AATA Conference, laying the foundation for IMI’s future.

Our end of the year podcast (full, unedited interview!) featuring Minette and Brooke will go live December 14th for paid subscribers. If you haven’t please consider a paid subscription to support our work.

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International Museotherapy Initiative by the Numbers

💰 Revenue More than quadrupled!

👥 Subscribers Increased by over 25%

💸 Paid Subscribers Tripled (3x)

🎙️ Substack Ranking Top 100 International Podcasts

Looking Ahead: IMI 2026 Strategic Growth
IMI will focus on:

• Upgrading our media infrastructure to produce more engaging, professional content.

• Expanding international exchanges to co-develop museotherapy pilots and share global best practices.

• Launching new educational resources linking research, policy, and practice.

• Strengthening our public storytelling to elevate museotherapy’s visibility worldwide

Recent Museum-Based Art Therapy Updates From Around the Web

Looking Forward to 2026:

The Museums Association’s annual conference will take place November 2-5, 2026 in England at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Library of Birmingham, with an opening reception on November 2nd followed by talks and workshops on November 3-4.

The Nineteenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum will be held in 2026 with a special focus on the future of museum narratives, though specific dates and location haven’t been announced yet.

Ongoing Program Expansions

While specific 2026 initiatives haven’t been widely announced yet, several key trends are emerging:

Continued Growth Areas:

• More museums are expected to adopt physician-prescribed museum visit programs, following the successful Montreal Museum of Fine Arts model

• Expansion of digital and virtual reality art therapy programs, which gained momentum during the pandemic

• Growing partnerships between museums and healthcare institutions for therapeutic programming

• Increased focus on trauma-informed practices in museum spaces

Research Developments: Museums are continuing to develop relationships with neuroscientists to study what happens in the brain when engaging with art therapeutically. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and other institutions are conducting mixed-method studies combining qualitative lived experience research with neuroscientific measurement.

Since specific 2026 programs are still being finalized, check back with the Museums Association website and, of course, the International Museotherapy Initiative newsletter in early 2026 for confirmed programs and dates.

Best wishes for the New Year,

Minette & Brooke

P.S. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to explore our newest addition: The IMI Podcast. In the season, Brooke hosts wonderful interviews with leading museum curators, educators, art therapists, and more. Paid subscribers have access to full, unedited interviews.

If you are in the museum, art therapy, or museotherapy world and you are hiring, feel free to drop a line. If you’re a graduate student or someone looking for a job in the field or want to get involved with IMI, please don’t hesitate to do the same.

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“Playing in the dollhouse.”

That’s how Olivia Turner describes curating an exhibition, arranging artworks in miniature, testing what belongs beside what, and imagining how a visitor might feel moving through that space.

The Curatorial Layer

As a curatorial fellow at the Meadows Museum in Dallas and a PhD candidate in Art History at Florida State University, Olivia Turner approaches her work with both precision and warmth.

Her path wound through art history, education, and even childcare, these experiences shaped how she thinks about the emotional life of museums.

Curators like Olivia make choices that ripple through our encounters with art through the height of a frame, the spacing between works, the tone of a wall label. Each decision shapes the visitor’s experience — and sometimes, their emotions.

When Art Holds Emotion

In our conversation, Olivia reflected on the emotional impact of works like Picasso’s Dream and Lie of Franco and Goya’s Black Paintings.

She spoke about the quiet responsibility curators carry when dealing with trauma, violence, and grief, similarly its the same sensitivity art therapists bring into clinical spaces.

“Every object on display has a pulse — some beat softly, others ache.”

That’s the overlap we keep finding in this series:

curation as care.

education as connection.

therapy as translation.

The Museum as a Third Place

Olivia also described her time at the Nasher Sculpture Center, where she helped create family programs during Free First Saturdays filled with outdoor artmaking sessions filled with laughter, conversation, and rest.

It’s a reminder that museums are more than cultural institutions; they’re community anchors.

When admission is free and art feels accessible, museums become what sociologists call a third place — not home, not work, but somewhere you can simply be.

🎧 Listen to the Full Conversation

This article only scratches the surface of my conversation with Olivia Turner.

Enjoying this episode? In the full interview with Olivia she shares her research on Luisa Roldán, Spain’s first professional female sculptor, who carved sacred figures with such skill that she earned royal commissions — though her name was often hidden behind those of her male patrons. Hearing Olivia talk about her passion for rediscovering Roldán’s legacy feels like watching one woman scholar reach through history to honor another.

We also geek out over the sisterhood our fields share in ideas, her advice for art therapist who want to work in museums, and much more. Click the button below to become a subscriber to unlock this full conversation and the other interviews in this series!

UNLOCK FULL EPISODE

Closing the Series

This episode concludes our three-part series exploring the different collaborations of museum based art therapy work:

• Dr. Carolyn Treadon — When Therapy Walked into the Museum

• Dr. Beatriz Galuban — When Healing and Learning Met in the Museum

• Olivia Turner — When the Gallery Held the Space

Together, these voices remind us that museums can be living ecosystems of empathy — places where art meets care, and care becomes art.

✨ Coming Next Month ✨

As 2025 winds down, we’re taking a step back to reflect on the year that shaped the International Museotherapy Initiative.
In our year-end wrap-up episode, Minette and I will look at where we started, what we’ve learned from our incredible guests, and where we’re heading in 2026.

Think of it as an open studio session: reflective, a little chaotic, and full of gratitude.
You won’t want to miss it.

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Until then, a short share from a most recent visit to the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado to see Tell Clyfford I Said ‘Hi’, curated by the children of the Colville Confederated Tribes, Bailey Placzek, and Nicole Cromartie, highlights the perspectives of Colville youth on Still’s depictions of their home, as well as the artist’s abstract works. Read more about this exhibition here.

Warm wishes for November,

Minette & The IMI Team

P.S. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to explore our newest addition: The IMI Podcast. In the season, Brooke hosts wonderful interviews with leading museum curators, educators, art therapists, and more. Paid subscribers have access to full, unedited interviews.

Some Recent Museum-Based Art Therapy Updates From Around the Web:

One thing we missed: Healing Arts Barcelona (October 20–26) was a week-long city-level initiative led by Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and WHO, focusing on arts integration in health to improve physical, mental, and social well-being via community arts programs and research.

The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is holding monthly art therapy sessions focused on exploring feelings related to cancer diagnosis and survivorship, led by a licensed art therapist. These 90-minute group sessions are open to patients and caregivers and free of charge, with materials provided.

The British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) is hosting its 2025 annual conference themed “Art therapy and collaboration” on November 8, online and in-person (sold out). The conference explores collaborative practices in art therapy, including inclusive co-production approaches and sensory-related art therapy modalities. Notable speakers include Claudy Jongstra, Helen Jury, Ali Coles, and Nicki Power.

The Taubman Museum of Art continues its “Happy HeARTs” program, offering accessible, sensory-friendly art therapy activities for individuals with diverse abilities and needs. Upcoming sessions open to the community are scheduled for November 8 and 22, addressing participants aged 10 and under and 10 and up.

The American Folk Art Museum will hold a Gallery Tour for Art Therapists on November 21, providing continuing education and professional engagement in the context of art therapy and museum accessibility.

At the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State, art therapy community sessions are available November 1, including a session dedicated to healthcare workers.

If you are in the museum, art therapy, or museotherapy world and you are hiring, feel free to drop a line. If you’re a graduate student or someone looking for a job in the field or want to get involved with IMI, please don’t hesitate to do the same.

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For part 1 of this mini series, when I spoke with Dr. Carolyn Treadon, she gave us the therapy side of the story. For part 2, I wanted to hear from the other side of the collaboration — the museum side.

Enter Dr. Beatriz Galuban, an Assistant Professor of Art at Texas A&M University–Commerce and a museum educator whose work focuses on empathy, accessibility, and community. She earned her PhD in Art Education from the University of North Texas, where she explored the intersections of anxiety, empathy, and narrative in art education. At the Meadows Museum, she developed programs that connect visitors with art in ways that feel personal and human — including memory care programs for adults with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“I started to care a little bit less about the object itself,” she told me, “and more about how we make meaning from objects. That led me toward storytelling, and toward education.”

For Dr. Galuban, museum education is not about simply transferring information. It’s about using art as a doorway — into memory, into dialogue, into community.

Connect with Dr. Galuban on LinkedIn ⬇️

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Memory and Meaning

One of the most moving parts of our conversation was her description of the Meadows Museum’s memory care programs. Participants wait all summer for the program to come back, she said, and a single painting can unlock memories or emotions that spill into conversation.

For Dr. Galuban, this work is deeply personal — shaped by her own grandmother’s experience with dementia. It’s why she believes museums can’t just be neutral spaces. They must be spaces where people feel safe, where their stories matter.

To learn more about the Meadows Museum click here ⬇️

HERE

The Future of Museums

When I asked what she sees on the horizon, her answer was simple: empathy. Museums, she believes, are shifting from being collections-driven institutions to being community-centered ones — places where people can find connection, belonging, and even wellness.

“Museums are prime spaces for empathy,” she said. “The narrative potential in there allows us to create community, to create dialogue, a connection with other human beings. And I think we need that now more than ever.”

Listen to the Full Conversation

This article just scratches the surface of our conversation. The edited podcast episode highlights Dr. Galuban’s path from art history to education, her philosophy of storytelling and empathy, her passion for memory care, and her vision for the future of museums.

But the full unedited interview includes even more — including her thoughts on accessibility, her collaborations with other disciplines, and additional advice for students. Plus, if you want to hear me completely lose my cool professional NPR facade, that I like to believe I have for these interviews, you’ll catch the moment where I warn her I’m about to blow up her inbox asking for chances to work together.

🎧 Listen here:

UNLOCK FULL EPISODE

If you’d like to hear the entire conversation, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the International Museotherapy Initiative. Your support helps us keep exploring how museums can become spaces of care and connection.

✨ Coming Next Month ✨

If Dr. Galuban helped us see how museum educators center empathy and connection, Olivia Turner brings the curator’s eye to the conversation. In this upcoming interview, she shares what it’s like to shape exhibitions, the ways curators collaborate with educators, and how she thinks about the emotional impact of art on visitors. We also explore how curatorial work can intersect with wellness and reflection — and where art therapists might fit into the picture. You won’t want to miss this one.

Calling all Museophiles📣

Please recommend a guest writer or someone you would like to hear us interview! They could be affiliated with the museum industry in any way. We value your input, and we will not be collecting any data for this except to reach out!

YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS

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This month, we explore inspiring stories and emerging practices that illuminate how art therapists, educators, and researchers are collaborating to unlock museums’ vast potential to serve as sanctuaries for growth, resilience, and renewal. From innovative programs that foster social connection to trauma-informed approaches that invite gentle healing, museotherapy is blossoming into a vital force for positive change. We’re looking forward to reporting back from the American Art Therapy Conference, which kicks off tomorrow. There are many presentations surrounding museum-based art therapy.

We hope this newsletter sparks new ideas and energizes your interest in this transformative work. Together, we build bridges between creativity and care, fostering spaces where all can find meaning and hope.

Warm wishes for a reflective and restorative October,

Minette & The IMI Team

P.S. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to explore our newest addition: The IMI Podcast. In the season, Brooke hosts wonderful interviews with leading museum curators, educators, art therapists, and more. Paid subscribers have access to full, unedited interviews. The next podcast episode with Dr. Beatriz Galaban will be released Oct 12. The full, unedited interview will be available for paid subscribers one day early, Oct 11.

Some Recent Museum-Based Art Therapy Updates From Around the Web:

For the 2025 American Art Therapy Association (AATA) Annual Conference, a presentation titled “Museum-based Art Social Prescribing: Empirical Research in South Korea” is scheduled. This research aims to explore the effectiveness of prescribing museum visits as part of social prescribing initiatives in South Korea, highlighting the therapeutic potential of cultural engagement in improving mental health outcomes. More information here

The World Art Therapy Festival took place in late September 2025 in Prague, focusing on themes like interpersonal relationships, stress, self-awareness, and psychosomatics through art therapy in museums.

The AATA Conference is set for October 8-11 in Portland, Oregon This conference, with the theme “Exploring the Benefits of Arts Therapies through the Lens of Neuroscientific Theories,” delves into the intersection of neuroscience and creative arts therapies, focusing on how artistic expression fosters resilience and well-being. Presentations will cover topics such as grief work and the integration of art materials and techniques in therapy.

In Europe, new initiatives include a six-month pilot project in Brussels prescribing museum visits for patients suffering from depression, fostering social inclusion and mental health benefits. Museums in Poland, such as the National Museum in Warsaw and the Museum of King John III’s Palace at Wilanów, are actively collaborating with health specialists to promote museotherapy programs, including workshops addressing stress and emotional expression. The National Museum in Kielce hosts conferences and pilot projects to highlight museotherapy’s therapeutic effects.

In France, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille continues to be a leading example, offering over 140 museum art therapy sessions per year, including for patients with Alzheimer’s, drug users, and children with autism. Their successful collaboration with the University Hospital Center of Lille formalizes museum visits prescribed by doctors, encouraging healing and social engagement through art.

In the U.S., a new collaboration between Bayhealth and the Biggs Museum of American Art focuses on using art therapy to support physician well-being and combat burnout, reflecting a broader trend of integrating creative arts therapies in healthcare to enhance quality of life.

Overall, the past month has seen growing global interconnections in museotherapy, with expanding research, clinical collaborations, festivals, and pilot projects demonstrating museums’ therapeutic value for diverse populations and mental health challenges.

These updates illustrate a vibrant and expanding field where museums serve as vital spaces for art-based healing, community connection, and improved psychological well-being worldwide.

If you are in the museum, art therapy, or museotherapy world and you are hiring, feel free to drop a line. If you’re a graduate student or someone looking for a job in the field or want to get involved with IMI, please don’t hesitate to do the same.

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When I started graduate school in art therapy, I pictured therapy in studios and clinics, not under skylights and surrounded by paintings. But museums kept pulling at me. They weren’t just places to display art but places where people could reflect, connect, and sometimes even heal. But as a student, I wasn’t sure where to even start learning how to enter the field of museotherapy, and believe it or not, there isn’t a WikiHow article on how to become a museum-based art therapist.

That’s what drew me to talk with Dr. Carolyn Brown Treadon, one of the pioneers of museum-based art therapy.

Nearly two decades later, that mountain has become a path many are now walking.

Inside the Conversation

In 2006, Dr. Treadon and her colleagues launched a pilot project with middle school students. The students explored the concept of family by connecting their work to objects in the galleries. What they discovered wasn’t just about art. It was about belonging, identity, and being seen.

Dr. Treadon shared what that project taught her about collaboration between art therapists and museum educators, the misconceptions people still have about museums, and her hopes for the future of this work. She also offered thoughtful advice for students like me who want to enter this emerging field.

And then, she told a story that has stayed with me: a boy proudly showing his mom his self-portrait at a gallery show at the end of that first pilot program. A small moment, but one that captured why museum-based art therapy matters. As she shared it, I felt my own memory stir. I remembered the pride I felt bringing my oldest son, Owen, who was just three at the time, to see my artwork in a gallery show. Even as an adult, I felt that rush of joy and validation of wanting him to see me and my work, the same way that boy wanted his mother to see his. That overlap made the story land even deeper for me. It reminded me that the power of being witnessed through art isn’t just for children or clients. It’s something universal.

FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Images Referenced in this Interview

For more on the pilot project, check out Dr. Treadon’s foundational article, Opening the Doors of Art Museums for Therapeutic Processes, an insightful look at how art therapists and museum educators partnered to support emotional awareness and connection.

The edited podcast highlights some of the most powerful parts of our conversation, but the full interview goes even deeper.

If you’d like to hear the full hour-long unedited conversation, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the International Museotherapy Initiative. Your support helps us continue sharing these voices and expanding the dialogue on art, healing, and community.

FULL INTERVIEW PODCAST

✨ Coming Next Month ✨

If Dr. Treadon shows us what museum-based art therapy looks like from the therapy side, then Dr. Beatriz Galuban offers the view from the other side: the museum. In our upcoming conversation, she shares how museum educators approach empathy, accessibility, and community building inside gallery walls—and what happens when those goals intersect with therapeutic practice. Don’t miss it.

Subscribe now

🎧 Listen here:

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This past month, I had the privilege of experiencing the Bluegrass, Green Skies Exhibition as well as the Contemporary Fiber: Botanicals Exhibition at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Afterwards, I sauntered through endless blooms and botanicals. I went with a dear friend (another art appreciator who works in museum spaces). When I tell you I was inspired, it’s an absolute understatement. I felt the shift I haven’t felt in so long — a physical shift of awe, inspiration, community, possibility, and fascination of mind-bending artistic talent. It sparked wonder, conversation, and future collaboration ideas. I’m already planning my next museum visit. How about you?

September is also a busy, magical month and we’re thrilled to have Brooke Christensen onboard to bolster us through the rest of the year. If you haven’t read her inaugural post, please take time to do so here. Her writing is eloquent, in-depth, and inspiring. You can look forward to hearing from her about once a month for some longer reads.

We’re also gearing up for some special interviews. Is there a museum-based therapist currently hosting or collaborating with a museum for fall exhibits or classes? Let us know! We’re here to share, inspire, and connect— especially with our international colleagues.

We’re excited to step into this new chapter with you. Thank you for being part of this initiative and for carrying forward the vision of museums as spaces for reflection, connection, imagination, and care.

Kindly,

Minette + The IMI Team

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Some Recent Museum-Based Art Therapy Updates and Links From Around the Web:

A project report we came about was released in July 2025 by Guangyu Chang (Drexel University) focused on trauma-informed art therapy within museum environments. The initiative aimed to bridge healing and community engagement by utilizing museum spaces as restorative environments that actively promote emotional well-being and social cohesion. The project emphasized the societal benefits of museum-based art therapy, including fostering empathy, reducing mental health stigma, and strengthening community ties. Here is the downloadable PDF.

For the 2025 American Art Therapy Association (AATA) Annual Conference, a presentation titled "Museum-based Art Social Prescribing: Empirical Research in South Korea" is scheduled. This research aims to explore the effectiveness of prescribing museum visits as part of social prescribing initiatives in South Korea, highlighting the therapeutic potential of cultural engagement in improving mental health outcomes. More information here

Starting August 11, 2025, the Audain Museum (Whistler, BC) introduced weekly Monday afternoon art therapy sessions for teenagers, aiming to foster emotional well-being through creative expression. Led by Angela Walsh Noble, an art therapy teacher-in-training with over two decades of experience, the classes provide a platform for teens to process their feelings and experiences through art. Great article and more info here

This isn’t museum-based, per se, but it is a community space and we support it. The creation of the UNBROKEN Art WORKSHOP for art therapy for veterans and wounded people has started in Lviv. The investment from German partners is 1 million euros — the funds were raised by the residents of Freiburg, and the city authorities doubled the amount to support Ukrainians who suffered from the war. We love to hear it! More information here.

This was a fun nod to art as therapy, museums and creation — plus the branding was flawless!

A Few Events of Note:

Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art (Durham, North Carolina)

Hosts regular art therapy sessions that include creative expression and group discussions, free, and open to the public. Art Therapy at the Nasher is designed as a group therapy experience that allows participants to explore, through the language of art-making, their feelings about cancer diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and recurrence. The group is led by a licensed art therapist, Geoffrey Vaughn, LMFT ATR, who is also a medical family therapist on Duke Cancer Institute’s Supportive Care team, and is open to both patients and caregivers, 18 years and older, who are facing cancer.

The AATA Conference is set for October 8-11 in Portland, Oregon

This conference, with the theme "Exploring the Benefits of Arts Therapies through the Lens of Neuroscientific Theories," delves into the intersection of neuroscience and creative arts therapies, focusing on how artistic expression fosters resilience and well-being. Presentations will cover topics such as grief work and the integration of art materials and techniques in therapy.

The World Art Therapy Festival is set for September 26-28 in Prague

This event is organized by the MAUT Association and offers a unique opportunity to explore the transformative potential of art. The festival will center around five key themes:

1. Interpersonal Relationships and Communication

2. Self-Development, Self-Awareness, and Self-Confidence

3. Stress, Burnout, Relaxation, and Releasing Tension

4. The Present Moment and Virtuality

5. Psychosomatics

Lastly, if you are in the museum, art therapy, or museotherapy world and you are hiring, feel free to drop a line. If you’re a graduate student or someone looking for a job in the field or want to get involved with IMI, please don’t hesitate to do the same.

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Moonlit Market by Johann Mengels Culverhouse (American, born Holland, 1820–1891)

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These are the questions the early pioneers of museum art therapy sought to answer. In fact, Dr. Debra Linesch’s (2004) transformative encounter with the Friedl  Dicker‑Brandeis exhibition at the Museum of Tolerance changed her career. As she stood before works created under the unimaginable duress of the Holocaust, she felt the electric potential of those walls, she realized museums could hold more than history, they could hold healing. But what is the science behind museums being such perfect spaces for art therapy? Now this is a complex question, that I am probably not qualified to answer but as someone who is still a student of art therapy and spends a significant amount of time reading research and pestering the Penn West University librarian (Tonya if you're reading this, thank you), I found these three theories to be the ideas that made the everyday magic of museums click for me: Falk and Dierking’s (1992) work on the museum experience model, Attention Restoration Theory (ART) developed by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989), and the vast body of work on neuro-aesthetics presented by Magsamen and Ross (2023) in their book Your Brain on Art.

It begins with understanding that a museum visit isn’t a passive stroll past pretty pictures. In 1992, John Falk and Lynn Dierking created foundational research by showing that every museum experience unfolds across three interwoven layers: the personal, the social, and the physical context. Your own history, motivations, and emotional state color what you see. Next your companions and the conversations you share shape how you interpret it, and the very architecture of the gallery, its lighting, layout, and pacing, directs your attention and mood (Falk & Dierking, 1992). Imagine guiding a visitor toward a striking portrait. If I was in my own therapist’s office, she would ask me to close my eyes, recall a memory, and ask the very familiar question, “how does that make you feel?” But in a museum, that question dances across all three contexts at once. The artwork’s color palette starts subconsciously communicating emotional information to the viewer, then a whispered comment from a fellow participant can spark a new insight, and the gentle hush of the gallery invites a level of peaceful focus that simply doesn’t exist in a clinical office. By orchestrating movement through these layered contexts, art therapists can harness the museum’s built‑in choreography to create deeper meaning making.

If Falk and Dierking explain the museum model’s impact, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan explain to us why that model restores our minds. In their Attention Restoration Theory (ART) (1989), the Kaplans describe how certain environments naturally replenish our capacity for directed attention, a resource that modern life constantly depletes. They identified four hallmarks of restorative settings: a sense of “being away” from daily stressors, effortless fascination that engages without strain, an extent or coherence that immerses the visitor, and compatibility with the individual’s needs. A museum, with its peaceful corridors, captivating artworks, and thoughtfully arranged exhibits, delivers all four (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Kaplan, Bardwell, & Slakter, 1993). Walk into a gallery and you’re immediately “away,” free from buzzing phones and email pings. Your eyes catch on brushstrokes or sculpted forms that hold your gaze without demanding conscious effort, that’s the fascination element. The curated sequence of rooms creates a narrative flow, providing “extent” that feels like stepping into a different world. And whether you’re offered a sketchbook station, an audio guide, or a quiet bench, the space adapts to your preferred mode of engagement, creating compatibility. These restorative elements aren’t extras but the very fabric of museum design.

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And yet, it’s not just the quiet hush of a gallery that seeps into our psyche, it's all-encompassing from the curve of a staircase to the hue of a wall. As Magsamen and Ross (2023) remind us, our surroundings act on us beneath conscious awareness, with color palettes subtly shifting mood and architectural proportions guiding our posture and breathing. Recent EEG data from the Mauritshuis shows that viewers’ emotional responses are ten times stronger when standing before the original Girl with a Pearl Earring versus viewing a reproduction, which is amplified by the museum’s lighting, framing, and spatial ambiance. fMRI scans further reveal that encountering the real painting stimulates the precuneus, a hub for self‑reflection and episodic memory, and sustains an attentional loop that cycles between the sitter’s eyes, mouth, and iconic pearl. The very architecture falls under neuro-aesthetics because high‑ceilinged rooms, common in gallery spaces, have been shown to foster openness and creative thinking. Museums don’t just display art but they craft an immersive stimulus field, calibrated to nudge us toward the very cognitive and emotional states that healing art practices seek to evoke.

Salom (2011) takes us one step further in reminding us that “the setting carries an important role in goal attainment in art therapy.” Drawing on Bitgood (2002), she describes museums as “informal learning institutions” where visitors navigate a buffet of stimuli by choosing where to place their attention, making social connections, and delighting in discovery. Every museum, Salom argues, has its own character, which is shaped by its people, its space, its collections, and its exhibits. The museum itself can act as a co‑leader in the therapeutic process, almost like another group member whose personality influences the therapeutic journey. Thinking of the museum itself as an active partner, and an environment that reflects aspects of self or community, further helps define its crucial role in shaping both the goals and outcomes of art therapy sessions.

When you weave together Falk and Dierking’s three contexts with the Kaplans’ restorative ingredients, the new research emerging from the field of neuro-aesthetics, and Salom’s vision of the museum as co‑therapist, the result is nothing short of magic. Museums become living laboratories for art therapy, where personal stories, social connections, and environmental design converge to rejuvenate attention, spark creativity, and deepen emotional insight.

References

Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1992). The Museum Experience. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315417899

Kaplan, S., & Kaplan, R. (1989). The visual environment–public–participation in design and planning. Journal of Social Issues, 45(2), 59–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1989.tb01533.x

Kaplan, S., Bardwell, L. V., & Slakter, D. B. (1993). The museum as a restorative environment. Environment and Behavior, 25(6), 725–742. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916593256004

Linesch, D. (2004). Art therapy at the Museum of Tolerance: Responses to the life and work of Friedl Dicker‑Brandeis. Arts in Psychotherapy, 31(2), 57–66.

Magsamen, S. H., & Ross, I. (2016). Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. MIT Press.

Salom, A. (2011). Reinventing the setting: Art therapy in museums. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38(2), 81–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2010.12.004

Solomon, M. (1954, June). The art museums. Poetry Magazine, 84(3), 9. Retrieved July 29, 2025, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=84&issue=3&page=9

Mauritshuis. (2024, October 2). Girl with a Pearl Earring visually captivates the viewer [Press release]. Mauritshuis.

Starting this month, we’ll be joined by a new writer, Brooke Christensen, whose experience and perspective will deepen the conversations we’re having here.

Brooke is an Art Therapy graduate student at PennWest University with a passion for museum-based therapy work. She brings both practical insight and creative vision, and I know you’ll appreciate her thoughtful voice as much as I do.

Together, we’re continuing to build a global community exploring the intersections of art, healing, and the museum public space. You can look forward to new features, long-form, research posts, and creative explorations - now with even more diversity of perspective.

In addition to her graduate work, Brooke has been awarded both the Anita Mester Dallas Art Therapy Scholarship and the Folds of Honor Scholarship in recognition of her dedication to advancing the field of art therapy. She will present on innovative art therapy techniques at the national level this fall. She has also contributed to legislative efforts for Texas art therapy license protections and continues to explore the intersection of creativity, healing, and personal narrative, with a particular interest in the transformative potential of museum-based experiences. Outside of her studies, Brooke is a mom to two energetic boys, Owen (5) and Adam (3), and wife to her high school sweetheart, Ben.

Please join me in welcoming Brooke to the Initiative!

With care,

Minette

From Brooke:

I’m so excited to join this community and share in the conversation about how museums can be spaces of connection and healing. Between my work in art therapy, my love of research and writing, and life as a mom of two, I’m eager to explore and create alongside you all.