December at the International Museotherapy Initiative
Highlights & Growth from 2025
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.
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.