Art Is Also Well-being: What Science Tells Us About the Power of Culture to Transform Lives
Dancing, singing, creating, and sharing cultural experiences can do much more than brighten our day. International research has found connections between artistic participation, emotional well-being, and the development of stronger, more connected communities.
In a Salsa Rueda, someone misses a step. Another person smiles, offers a hand, and helps them find the rhythm again. The music continues, and little by little, the group begins moving together once more.
At first glance, it is a simple scene: people enjoying music and dance. But something else is happening. There is communication, trust, movement, awareness of others, and a shared experience.
What role can these small moments of connection play in our well-being? Can culture help us feel better about ourselves, strengthen our relationships, and find a place where we belong?
Scientists have been exploring these questions for years. And their findings invite us to broaden our understanding of both art and health.
When Science Began Looking Beyond the Stage
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published one of the most comprehensive reviews conducted to date on the relationship between the arts, health, and well-being.
The report, developed by researchers Daisy Fancourt and Saoirse Finn, drew on evidence from more than 3,000 studies and found that artistic activities can play an important role in health promotion and disease prevention, as well as in the management and treatment of various health conditions.
The findings helped open new conversations about the place culture should occupy in health and well-being policies.
Further evidence emerged in 2022 with CultureForHealth, a European project co-funded by the European Commission. Its report, Culture's Contribution to Health and Well-being, examined 310 scientific and academic works using different methodologies, covering areas such as health, subjective well-being, and community well-being.
Among its findings were positive associations between cultural participation and aspects such as quality of life, emotional and social skills, a sense of belonging, and connection with others.
The research covered experiences involving music, dance, theater, literature, visual arts, and other forms of cultural expression.
This does not mean that every artistic activity automatically improves health. The studies offer different levels of evidence, and questions remain about the mechanisms behind specific outcomes.
However, the growing body of research points toward an important conclusion: art deserves to be considered part of strategies to promote individual and collective well-being, rather than being viewed solely as a recreational activity.
Well-being Is Also Something We Build Together
When we think about well-being, we often imagine individual habits: sleeping better, eating well, exercising, or managing stress.
But there is another equally important dimension: our relationships.
Having people to share experiences with, feeling that we belong, finding spaces to express ourselves, and participating in meaningful activities are all important aspects of a healthy life.
The CultureForHealth report identifies social inclusion, interpersonal connection, and a sense of belonging among the outcomes associated with different forms of cultural participation.
For example, the review includes research on collective singing that describes benefits related to social integration, interpersonal skills, and relationship-building.
It also documents artistic experiences involving adolescents at risk of exclusion from school. A study by Thompson and Tawell (2017), included in the report, explored how participation in creative processes could help young people develop new ways of understanding their identities and relating to their surroundings.
In these experiences, the value of art goes beyond the final outcome—a song, a choreography, or a performance. It can also be found in everything that happens along the way.
Learning something new, listening to others, making mistakes without fear, expressing ideas, and creating together are opportunities for personal development that we do not always encounter in other areas of everyday life.
And when these experiences take place within a community, their meaning can extend far beyond each individual participant.
What If We Started Caring for Well-being Before Distress Appears?
One of the most important arguments in CultureForHealth is the need to move toward a broader understanding of health.
For a long time, many health systems have focused primarily on treating diseases and symptoms. Without questioning the importance of these services, the report calls for strengthening health promotion and prevention strategies, while recognizing the social and cultural conditions that shape our lives.
In this context, the arts can play a complementary role.
Participating in accessible, regular cultural activities adapted to people's needs can create opportunities to develop personal capacities, strengthen relationships, and build support networks.
The research also recognizes that these benefits are neither automatic nor equally accessible to everyone. Economic, territorial, and social barriers can limit opportunities to engage in quality cultural experiences.
Expanding access to artistic participation, therefore, is not simply a matter of increasing cultural offerings. It is also a conversation about inclusion, equity, and well-being.
And this becomes particularly relevant when we talk about young people.
Adolescence and young adulthood are important stages for identity formation, exploring possibilities, and developing meaningful relationships. Access to spaces for expression, creativity, and participation can help strengthen personal and social capacities that are valuable during these years.
This does not turn the arts into clinical treatment, nor does it mean they can solve structural problems such as inequality or violence on their own. Their potential lies in becoming part of broader responses that connect education, health, and community development.
From Research to Real-Life Experiences: Our Approach at Timbalé
In Medellín, these reflections connect with a question that has guided the work of Timbalé Cultural Organization since 2015:
How can we turn artistic experiences into opportunities for well-being, learning, and personal and community transformation?
For us, dance and music have artistic and cultural value in their own right. They offer spaces for enjoyment, creativity, expression, and identity.
But they also create opportunities to connect with others, develop capacities, and build community.
Through our artistic and educational experiences, we seek to help people discover new ways of relating to themselves and the world around them. And through social programs such as Bailemos Juntos (Let's Dance Together) and Transformadores (Changemakers), we bring this vision into youth development and participation initiatives.
In Bailemos Juntos, for example, we use Cuban Salsa Rueda de Casino as an artistic and relational platform. Through collective movement, experiential learning, and guided reflection, we aim to strengthen well-being, socio-emotional skills, and meaningful connections among young people.
The artistic experience becomes a meeting point between the body, emotions, relationships, and community.
We do not believe that dancing can solve every problem. Nor do we seek to replace psychological or medical care when it is needed.
Our approach is to contribute, through art and with professional support, to creating favorable conditions for well-being and human development.
That is also why we believe research, measurement, and continuous learning are essential. We seek to understand what changes participants experience, which of those changes may be connected to our methodologies, and how we can continue improving our work.
Culture Is Not a Luxury. It Is an Opportunity to Live Better.
The CultureForHealth report concludes with a call to integrate culture into health and well-being strategies, encourage further research, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and expand access to artistic experiences.
Although its recommendations focus on the European context, they raise important questions for cities like Medellín:
What would change if we recognized cultural spaces as environments that can contribute to well-being? What if opportunities to dance, sing, create, and participate were more accessible? What if cultural organizations, educational institutions, communities, and health professionals worked more closely together?
Perhaps we would begin to recognize something that happens every day in a dance class, a music rehearsal, or a community gathering: the value of an artistic experience does not end when the music stops.
It lives on in what we learn, in the relationships we build, and in the possibilities we discover.
Because art does more than allow us to create something new. It can also help us discover new ways of connecting with ourselves and with one another.
And at Timbalé, we want to keep creating spaces where that can happen.
Sources and References
1. CultureForHealth (2022). Zbranca, R., Dâmaso, M., Blaga, O., Kiss, K., Dascăl, M. D., Yakobson, D., & Pop, O. CultureForHealth Report – Summary: Culture's Contribution to Health and Well-being. A Report on Evidence and Policy Recommendations for Europe. Culture Action Europe.
2. World Health Organization (2019). Fancourt, D., & Finn, S. What Is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-being? A Scoping Review. Health Evidence Network Synthesis Report 67. WHO Regional Office for Europe.
3. Thompson, I., & Tawell, A. (2017). Becoming Other: Social and Emotional Development Through the Creative Arts for Young People with Behavioural Difficulties. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 22(1), 18–34.
Comments