Data are cultural: what does that mean for understanding well-being?
For thousands of years philosophers have asked: ‘What makes for the good society?’, or ‘the good life?’ Su…
Posts
Great Place Greater Manchester
Julie McCarthy reflects on three years of action research into the role of culture in shaping the lives of the people of Greater M…
Changing lives with creativity
The arts have a huge role to play in health and wellbeing. Jane Rich shares how creative practitioners can support mental hea…
Care homes celebrate culture
The importance of access to arts and creativity in care settings has become ever more apparent during the pandemic, writes Alison…
Firstsite wins Art Fund Museum of the Year
Firstsite Colchester has won £100,000 and the title of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. The art gallery, which celebra…
Deprived areas benefit most from culture
New research indicates cultural engagement improves wellbeing in England’s poorest areas the most, but unequal access remain…
Belgium prescribes culture for Covid stress
Patients diagnosed with Covid-related stress in Brussels are being prescribed free visits to museums and galleries. Doctors at Bru…
Half of disabled music workers don’t disclose conditions
Music industry workers are putting their health and safety at risk over fear of negative reactions and damaging their career prosp…
Museums tackling loneliness
In rural areas such as Cornwall, the pandemic has exacerbated loneliness, with vulnerable people losing their sense of commun…
TV industry ‘ignorant’ of legal duties to disabled staff
Senior television workers are unaware of their legal obligations to their disabled colleagues, driving many out of the indust…
Writing for health
It's widely agreed that arts and creativity can boost mental health and wellbeing. But less well known is the positive effect…
Masking for a friend
Arts venues might lose out by mandating masks and other Covid-19 mitigations but it's the only socially responsible optio…
Time’s up for conservatoire culture
Drama schools would do well to interrogate their practices and culture now before the calls for reform begin.
Why we must put wellbeing first
Sebastian Cater says cultural sector managers who make mental health a priority aren’t virtue signalling, they’re lead…
Starting the healing process with culture
Marie-Claire Daly reflects on what the past year has taught Greater Manchester about resilience and recovery, and what we mus…
When altruism meets experience
The pandemic has proved the power of the arts in addressing isolation. Eleanor Sutton shares how a volunteering programme is benef…
True service is selfless
Ajay Chhabra jumped at the opportunity to manage a Covid test centre in the heart of London’s South Asian community. He foun…
How to power recovery in the hard-hit North East
Abigail Pogson outlines the vital contribution the arts can – and should – make as the nation edges towards recovery.
Challenging the norms of dance
Grace Nicol wants to redefine how we make dance to support more risky work. The answer, she thinks, lies in greater pastoral…
Acting is an emotional assault
Wabriya King was told she had to be tough to be an actress. It’s not her who needed to change, she writes.
All I need is a hairbrush microphone
Ruth Pitt reflects on the power of music and the projects that put it at the heart of recovery.
Orchestras, opera companies and choirs add £1.6m to public health
Up to two thirds of UK orchestras are already working in health and social care settings. With NHS support, they could be "at…
‘Mental health crisis’ among musicians is worsening, charity warns
Even with a light at the end of the lockdown tunnel, musicians' mental health is suffering due to "substantial uncer…
Creativity is a lifesaver
Lord Alan Howarth reflects on a journey in arts and healthcare that has a promising future.
