Applied Arts and Health: Building Bridges Across Art, Therapy, Health, Education, and Community

Fresh insights into research approaches within the arts, in and for health and well-being.

This forward-thinking collection documents diverse approaches to creative arts engagement, building metaphoric bridges across the field with an emphasis on creativity and well-being in education and community development. The book advances integrative and multimodal art-based processes by focusing on applied arts and health practice, research, scholarship, expressive arts therapy, community, and education. It aims to give prominence to art-based research and provides useful support to those working and researching across the field. 

Bringing together a collection of world-leading authors in the field and spanning a range of cultures, the projects documented in the volume are a significant new addition to cohesive research in this area. In continuing to advance applied arts and health, while furthering a commitment to art-based research, Applied Arts and Health places emphasis upon the artistic research methodology, underscoring that art (performing art and visual art) is the evidence. It offers the field an integral vision for the arts both theoretically and practically. Further, the book breaks down the silos that have been unhelpful in the development of practice.

Ross W. Prior is professor of learning and teaching in the arts in higher education at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. 

Mitchell Kossak is professor and former director in the Expressive Therapies program at Lesley University in Massachusetts. 

Teresa A. Fisher is associate professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Bronx Community College (CUNY).