Participation In Arts Activities Research Articles

The Implementation of Art Appreciation Courses in Chinese University General Education: A Case Study

This research critically evaluates and assesses the current status of Art Appreciation Courses (AAC) within the General Education (GE) curriculum in Chinese universities. The investigation is focused on delineating the strengths, pinpointing the weaknesses, and identifying potential areas for improvement. The research methodology encompasses a thorough review of relevant literature and the implementation of a qualitative case study approach. Interviews were conducted with four AAC instructors, selected through purposive sampling, and their documents were subjected to analysis. The primary findings suggest that the instructors are committed to enhancing students' humanities knowledge, aesthetic education, and artistic abilities by developing appreciation skills. However, they encounter several challenges, including a limited knowledge base among students, inadequate course duration, insufficient facilities, and a tenuous connection between the course and the major. The instructors adhere to a teaching philosophy integrating aesthetic education using a situational model, cultivating positive attitudes and distinctive courses. Our study recommends several enhancements for Art Appreciation Courses (AAC) in Chinese universities. We suggest diversifying AAC topics and facilitating cross-cultural comparisons. Active learning should be promoted through interactive methods and participation in art activities. Interdisciplinary integration can be bolstered by collaborating with other disciplines. Lastly, resources should be augmented, and assessments should be diversified to foster creativity, and student engagement should be enhanced.

The Power of Arts in Old Age: Implications for Social Workers

This article attempts to bridge various forms of arts and social work interventions through an exploration of how arts can fit within the social work context and have a positive impact on clients’ lives. The focus of the article is on the older adults, a population group that is considered as a vulnerable, from the social and health perspectives. The objective of the study was to examine whether arts have a positive impact on older adults or not. By examining the impact of various kinds of arts on the quality of life of older adults, this article aims to strengthen the idea of using alternative approaches in social work interventions with older adults. It also suggests the idea of introducing social work courses within the curriculum that combine social work and arts. Through a pen-and-paper, closed-ended questionnaire, 179 Greek Cypriots over the age of 65 were surveyed in order to measure the power that participation in art activities may have on their lives.

사회 참여적 예술 창작과 수행인성의 관계 탐색을 위한 실행연구

This study aims at examining the relationship between the learner's socially participatory art creation process and performance character and, at the same time, to cultivate the performance character necessary to ultimately realize the meaning of a ‘loose community’. As a research method, action research is consisting of 11 undergraduate students as research participants and 3 sessions of 8 sessions each, a total of 24 hours of art creation class to develop performance characters, with repeated execution of reflective contemplation. Data collection included interview, photo/video data, class results, observation data of the researcher, research journal.
 As a result, it was found that various performance characteristics appeared in the learner in the process of socially engaged art creation. Specifically, an open attitude that enables convergent thinking, problem-solving ability, an accepting attitude to see the phenomena as they are, an attitude to empathize with events in the work process of others, communication and empathy, a pro-social attitude, self reflective attitude, patience and consideration, sense of achievement and self-esteem, belonging and responsibility could be emerged. It is expected that we will be able to expand our perspective on the world in multiple layers by experiencing more diverse values such as “Becoming a loose community” that is made into art provides learners with opportunities to form diverse performative personality through opportunities for self-reflection and social participation in art activities, and through the socially participatory nature of art.

Who engages in the arts in the United States? A comparison of several types of engagement using data from The General Social Survey

BackgroundEngaging in the arts is a health-related behavior that may be influenced by social inequalities. While it is generally accepted that there is a social gradient in traditional arts and cultural activities, such as attending classical music performances and museums, previous studies of arts engagement in the US have not adequately investigated whether similar demographic and socioeconomic factors are related to other forms of arts engagement.MethodsUsing cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (GSS) in the US, we examined which demographic, socioeconomic, residential, and health factors were associated with attendance at arts events, participation in arts activities, membership of creative groups, and being interested in (but not attending) arts events. We combined data from 1993 to 2016 in four analytical samples with a sample size of 8684 for arts events, 4372 for arts activities, 4268 for creative groups, and 2061 for interested non-attendees. Data were analysed using logistic regression.ResultsMore education was associated with increased levels of all types of arts engagement. Parental education demonstrated a similar association. Being female, compared to male, was also consistently associated with higher levels of engagement. Attendance at arts events was lower in participants with lower income and social class, poorer health, and those living in less urban areas. However, these factors were not associated with participation in arts activities or creative groups or being an interested non-attendee.ConclusionsOverall, we found evidence for a social gradient in attendance at arts events, which was not as pronounced in participation in arts activities or creative groups or interest in arts events. Given the many benefits of engagement in the arts for education, health, and wider welfare, our findings demonstrate the importance of identifying factors to reduce barriers to participation in the arts across all groups in society.

Impact of arts participation on children’s achievement: A systematic literature review

This paper reports on a systematic literature review to examine the association between children and young people’s participation in arts activities and their academic achievement. The 24 studies that met our criteria for inclusion and weight of evidence (2004–16) had mixed findings. Whilst many of the research designs employed would not meet positivist criteria for rigour – such as sample size, statistical significance and causality – typically required by public bodies to justify expenditure, there are examples throughout the literature reviewed of academically-related benefits to participants, such as increased confidence, creativity or more positive attitude towards their studies. Overall, there appears to be some justification from the literature for public investment in high-quality, long-term arts education programmes for children and young people in schools and community settings, on the basis of its potential to enhance academic achievement. However, there may be more intrinsic benefits to arts participation than the instrumental, essentially economic justification of improved academic standards.

The use of arts interventions for mental health and wellbeing in health settings

This literature review aims to illustrate the variety and multitude of studies showing that participation in arts activities and clinical arts interventions can be beneficial for citizens with mental and physical health problems. The article is focused on mental health benefits because this is an emerging field in the Nordic countries where evidence is demanded from national health agencies that face an increasing number of citizens with poor mental health and a need for non-medical interventions and programmes. A total of 20 articles of interest were drawn from a wider literature review. Studies were identified through the search engines: Cochrane Library, Primo, Ebscohost, ProQuest, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed and Design and Applied Arts Index. Search words included the following: arts engagement + health/hospital/recovery, arts + hospital/evidence/wellbeing, evidence-based health practice, participatory arts for wellbeing, health + poetry/literature/dance/singing/music/community arts, arts health cost-effectiveness and creative art or creative activity + health/hospital/recovery/mental health. The inclusion criteria for studies were (1) peer review and (2) empirical data. The studies document that participation in activities in a spectrum from clinical arts interventions to non-clinical participatory arts programmes is beneficial and an effective way of using engagement in the arts to promote holistic approaches with health benefits. Engagement in specially designed arts activities or arts therapies can reduce physical symptoms and improve mental health issues. Based on the growing evidence of the arts as a tool for enhancing mental health wellbeing, and in line with the global challenges in health, we suggest that participatory arts activities and clinical arts interventions are made more widely available in health and social settings. It is well-documented that such activities can be used as non-medical interventions to promote public health and wellbeing.

DIY Adapted Repurposed Tool (ART) Kit-A recipe for success

ABSTRACTEvery individual should be provided with opportunities to self-express through participation in art activities. In order to provide independent exploration and creativity during art, it may be necessary to adapt art tools, modify how the activity is accomplished, and examine the environment to determine the best methods to provide access. Simple tools created from readily available materials and easy project modifications can allow increased independence in completion of art activities. Drawing from their experiences working with art educators and students with significant disabilities, the authors collaborated to create a an inexpensive Adapted Repurposed Tool (ART) kit designed to assist students to hold, reach, and manipulate art materials

Singing in later life: The anatomy of a community choir

Previous research has highlighted the individual and social benefits of participation in arts activities for physical, psychological and social well-being. However, less is known about the transformative community aspects of the arts and very few studies have investigated arts participation over a substantial period. This article reports a case study of an older people’s choir over a 4-year period, involving interviews, focus groups, observations and a World Café participatory discussion. In support of previous literature, choir members highlighted many individual and interpersonal benefits of being part of the choir. They also emphasised the importance of developing social relationships within a supportive community, and the importance of musical achievement was central to the ongoing development of the choir. Our analysis identified five main themes: personal investment and reward; inclusive community; always evolving yet fundamentally unchanged; a desire to connect; and leadership and organisation. Considering these with reference to Seligman’s PERMA framework from positive psychology, it is apparent that social relationships, meaning and accomplishment are particularly emphasised as reasons why older people find singing in a community choir so beneficial for well-being. Sustainability is a major concern, and factors such as an expert music leader to support this are identified.

Subjective well-being and engagement in arts, culture and sport

This paper explores the relationship between engagement in arts, culture and sport, and subjective well-being, contributing to our understanding of the leisure experience, and cultural value, of these activities. Ordered probit analysis of UK data from wave 2 (2010–2011) of Understanding Society provides evidence in support of a wide range of cultural goods generating positive leisure experience, reflected in overall (life, general happiness) and domain (leisure) satisfaction. Frequency of engagement is central to certain activities: only regular participation in arts activities and sport generates positive effects. In contrast, arts events are positive irrespective of frequency. The findings also indicate even less frequent engagement in activities exhibiting cultural characteristics, e.g. museums/historical sites, has positive association with satisfaction. Finally, although employment has a negative association with leisure satisfaction, engagement in leisure activities is not found to spillover into job satisfaction (with the exception of certain sports). This suggests individuals consider work and leisure (including quality of leisure time) separately.

When children play, they feel better: organized activity participation and health in adolescents.

BackgroundParticipation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) has been linked to healthy youth development. This study aimed to assess whether participation in OLTA is associated with both physical and mental health in adolescents, and whether this association differs by pattern of activity participation, age and gender.MethodsThe present study was based on data from the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study in the Czech Republic. This data concerned 10,503 adolescents (49.2 % boys) aged 11, 13 and 15. A cluster analysis was carried out to obtain patterns of activity participation and yielded five groups (all-rounders, artists, individual sports, team sports and inactive). The association between participation in types of OLTA and physical and mental health was analysed using logistic regression models adjusted for age and gender. We also assessed interactions between types of OLTA and gender and age.ResultsParticipation in OLTA was associated with better self-rated health and higher life satisfaction regardless of gender or age. Participation in team or individual sports was associated with better general health and less frequent health complaints in boys, while participation in art activities was associated with lower occurrence of health complaints in girls and 11-year-olds.ConclusionParticipation in OLTA is associated with better physical and mental health in adolescents. The association varies by pattern of activity participation and is partly gender- and age-specific.

The Growth of Visual Arts as a Motor for Empowerment in Nigeria

This paper will focus on the development of Visual Arts in Nigeria from the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions for creation of awareness of the subject. It argues that when this is done, insight into the situation can be revealed and promoted for improved participation in art activities. Art has been relegated to the background for too long now due to misunderstanding and misconceptions of what art entails and the benefits of the subject. It is time to forcefully plant the subject as a compulsory one through such academic meetings. Visual Arts can lead to poverty reduction if properly applied and harnessed due to its creative and skill related nature. From this study, it can be deduced that graduates of art can make a living from art, and also be able to employ labour and art studios can grow beyond subsistence level of production to larger ones thereby reducing unemployment in the country. The main contribution of the paper is an emphasis on the need to introduce visual arts in schools and Colleges to increase the number of persons involved in art. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n11p26

Beyond the borders: The use of art participation for the promotion of health and well-being in Britain and Denmark

Background: This article compares British and Danish promotion of well-being through participation in art activity to empower the individual. It examines the influence of national, social and political contexts on art and health community projects by comparing practice and project outcomes. Method: Based on two case studies, the article draws on specific evidence in Britain and Denmark. The approach taken is one of the psychosocial inquiries allowing reflection on practice including participants' testimonies. Results: The two cases showed comparable problems with restricted resources, funding and organisational limitations to service delivery. The British case study shows a bottom-up approach in contrast to the Danish case study where the approach is top-down. Although the benefits from participation in art activities in the two countries were influenced by a complex set of different interacting factors, outcomes were typically similarly positive: finding identity, feeling a sense of well-being and increased self-confidence. Conclusion: In terms of practice, policy and research and in the recognition of value of art participation, the comparison demonstrates how different stories, contexts and institutions engage in different ways to facilitate and enable service users as well as generating different challenges; recognising the benefits of developing best practice guidelines in art practice in health settings.

The aesthetic and cultural interests of patients attending an acute hospital – a phenomenological study

To describe the aesthetic and cultural pursuits of older patients in hospital. Although there is much discussion of the importance of arts - used in this paper to refer to all art forms, as currently listed by the Arts Council of Ireland www.artscouncil.ie - in health, little is known about the salience of aesthetic and cultural pursuits of hospital patients. A qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological study examined artistic and cultural interests and experiences of older hospital patients and their perceptions of aesthetics of hospital. A phenomenological study was carried out in 2011, using purposeful sampling with 20 inpatients aged over 65. Patients were selected from the geriatric medicine day hospital of a university teaching hospital, 10 had experience of the hospital arts programme. Seven themes identified: loss and the impact of illness on leisure activities; patients' interests and passions; a lack of expectation of arts in hospital; the positive impact of arts in hospital for those who had experienced them; varying preference between receptive and participative arts activity according to phase of illness; aesthetic aspects of the hospital experience; recommendations for changes to improve arts in hospital. Aesthetic and cultural interests are important in the lives of older patients admitted to hospital. Illness can create barriers to artistic engagement. Participation in arts activities may be more important during recovery and rehabilitation, with receptive arts being more popular during the acute phase of illness in hospital. Further research recommended on the role of the aesthetic environment for patients' health and well-being as well as receptive arts in hospital.

Measurable Progress? Teaching Artsworkers to Assess and Articulate the Impact of Their Work

The National Cultural Policy Discussion Paper—drafted to assist the Australian Government in developing the first national Cultural Policy since Creative Nation nearly two decades ago—envisages a future in which arts, cultural and creative activities directly support the development of an inclusive, innovative and productive Australia. "The policy," it says, "will be based on an understanding that a creative nation produces a more inclusive society and a more expressive and confident citizenry by encouraging our ability to express, describe and share our diverse experiences—with each other and with the world" (Australian Government 3). Even a cursory reading of this Discussion Paper makes it clear that the question of impact—in aesthetic, cultural and economic terms—is central to the Government's agenda in developing a new Cultural Policy. Hand-in-hand with the notion of impact comes the process of measurement of progress. The Discussion Paper notes that progress "must be measurable, and the Government will invest in ways to assess the impact that the National Cultural Policy has on society and the economy" (11). If progress must be measurable, this raises questions about what arts, cultural and creative workers do, whether it is worth it, and whether they could be doing it better. In effect, the Discussion Paper pushes artsworkers ever closer to a climate in which they have to be skilled not just at making work, but at making the impact of this work clear to stakeholders. The Government in its plans for Australia's cultural future, is clearly most supportive of artsworkers who can do this, and the scholars, educators and employers who can best train the artsworkers of the future to do this.

Arts and health

Interest in the value of the arts for health promotion and healthcare has grown considerably over the last twenty years throughout the world. The use of arts for health is not the same as creative arts therapies in which trained practitioners engage with individuals in a therapeutic process through the arts in clinical settings, although arts therapy practice is itself changing to embrace more of a community dimension. Art for health in contrast is based on the idea that exposure to the arts, and more importantly, participation in creative activities, is life-enhancing and can promote wellbeing. In healthcare settings the arts can contribute to enhancing the healing environment, and help to promote recovery and rehabilitation. In community settings, participation in arts activities brings people together with a sense of purpose in a common creative endeavour. Participation in creative arts activity by people with existing physical and mental health challenges is certainly regarded as 'therapeutic' but it is not 'therapy' in a formal sense, and the emphasis is on the intrinsic value and quality of the creative process and what it produces. As one might expect, given the involvement of arts practitioners, the field of arts and health is itself creative and dynamic, and this is reflected in the wealth of practical initiatives co-created by health professionals and artists. For the UK, the best current source of information about activities in this field is the recently established 'Culture and Wellbeing' website, set up by the London Arts and Health Forum with funding from Arts Council England. This site provides excellent case studies of some of the very best initiatives in the UK, showing how the main arts forms - music, theatre/ drama, visual arts, dance and literature/ creative writing - can serve to promote health. Long-standing charitable organisations, such as Music in Hospitals and Paintings in Hospitals, help to enliven the hospital environment and engage patients and staff alike in activities which enhance wellbeing, and provide distractions from the anxieties associated with illness. Community initiatives like the East Kent 'Singing for Health' Network Project, have created choirs for people with a history of mental health challenges, together with family supporters and health professionals. The theatre company 'Ladder to the Moon' has created dramas to address social care issues associated with dementia, and the 'Big Difference Company' has used drama to explore a range of health issues such as teenage pregnancy and smoking with young people. Some of the projects profiled are quite unexpected. 'Arts for Health' in Manchester for example, is currently working with the 'Asia Europe Foundation' to explore how governments, private business and civil society should best prepare for future pandemic threats. Alongside this flowering of creative endeavours in the arts and health field, there has been growing attention given to developing the evidence base. Does participation in the arts and creative activities really give rise to measurable health benefits? Is there any evidence that arts interventions are not only effective, but cost-effective too? …

Mental health and arts participation: the state of the art in England

Although participation in arts activity is believed to have important mental health and social benefits for people with mental health needs, the evidence base is currently weak. This article reports the first phase of a study intended to support the development of stronger evidence. Objectives for the first phase were to map current participatory arts activity, to identify appropriate indicators and to develop measures for use in the second phase of the research. A survey of participatory arts projects for people with mental health needs aged 16 to 65 in England, identified via the Internet and relevant organizations, was carried out to map the scale and scope of activity and to establish the nature of current approaches to evaluation. The results indicate that the scope of activity, in terms of projects' settings, referral sources, art forms and participation is impressively wide. In terms of scale, however, projects reported low funding and staffing levels that may have implications for the feasibility of routine evaluation in this field. Current approaches to evaluation were limited, but entailed considerable effort and ingenuity, suggesting that projects are keen to demonstrate their benefits. The survey has enabled us to build on the best evaluation practice identified to develop a measure for assessing the mental health, social inclusion and empowerment outcomes of arts participation for people with mental health needs. For the second phase of the study we will work with arts and mental health projects, using the measure alongside qualitative work in a realistic evaluation design, in order to identify the characteristics of effective projects.

Editorial

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Centres for Social Change: Museums, Galleries and Archives for All. Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Policy Action Team 10, A Report to the Social Exclusion Unit, Arts and Sport; Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Centres for Social Change: Museums, Galleries and Archives for All; Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Libraries, Museums, Galleries and Archives for All: Co‐operating Across the Sectors to Tackle Social Exclusion; Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Building on Pat 10; Quality, Efficiency and Standards Unit, Making it Count, the Contribution of Culture and Sport to Social Inclusion. Scottish Executive, Creating our Future, Minding our Past; Scottish Executive, An Action Framework for Museums – consultation and response. National Assembly for Wales, Creative Future, A cultural Strategy for Wales. English Heritage, Power of Place: The future of the historic environment; English Heritage, Our Heritage. Parker et al., Neighbourhood Renewal and Social Inclusion: the role of museums, archives and libraries. Heritage Lottery Fund, The Horizons of Heritage; Heritage Lottery Fund, Broadening the Horizons of Heritage: The Heritage Lottery Fund Strategic Plan 2002–2007. Hooper‐Greenhill, et al., eds., Museums and Social Inclusion: The GLLAM Report. Scottish Museums Council, Museums and Social Justice. Matarasso, ‘Opening up the China Cabinet: Museums, inclusion and contemporary society’; Appleton, Museums and Social Inclusion, 9–15; Findlay and Crowley, Making Histories; Dodd, et al., A Catalyst for Change: The social impact of the Open Museum; R. Sandell, ed., Museums, Society, Inequality; De Groote, Reaching Out. Newman and McLean, ‘Heritage Builds Communities: the application of heritage resources to the problems of social exclusion’ 143–153; Appleton, ed., Museums for the People?; Belfiore, ‘Art as a means of alleviating social exclusion: does it really work? A critique of instrumental cultural policies and social impact studies in the UK’, 91–106; Selwood, ‘Measuring Culture’; Merli, ‘Evaluating the social impact of participation in arts activities: a critical review of ­Francois Matarasso’s Use or Ornament?’, 107–118. Newman and McLean, ‘Presumption, Policy and Practice: The use of museums and galleries as agents of social inclusion in Great Britain. Newman and McLean, ‘Architectures of Inclusion: Museums, Galleries and Inclusive Communities’. Weil, ‘From being about something to being for somebody: the ongoing transformation of the American museum’, 229. Newman and McLean, ‘Capital and the Evaluation of the Museum Experience’.

Smoke and mirrors: a response to paola merli's “evaluating the social impact of participation in arts activities”, IJCP, 2002, vol. 8(1)

(2003). Smoke and mirrors: a response to paola merli's “evaluating the social impact of participation in arts activities”, IJCP, 2002, vol. 8(1) International Journal of Cultural Policy: Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 337-346.

Distinction worldwide?: Bourdieu's theory of taste in international context

Applications of Bourdieu's theory of taste have focused almost exclusively on French-American comparisons. This paper uses original data to identify the cultural repertoires, the level of cultural participation, and the personal qualities used in symbolic boundary formation for an international sample of young elites. The study found evidence for two domains of cultural stratification: arts activities and sports activities. Rates of participation in arts activities varied across world region but were consistently higher than arts participation found in the GSS national sample. Regional variations in personal qualities desired in friends cast new light on past comparisons; again, despite this variation, arts-related personal qualities were valued more by this sample of elites than by the GSS sample. Sports activities emerged as a major candidate for legitimate culture in the examples of upper-class cultural repertoires generated by respondents; American domination of sports culture was the only consistent regional pattern found. A major finding of this study is the disjuncture in findings among cultural repertoires, cultural participation, and symbolic boundaries, all of which have been assumed to be aspects of a single cultural stratification concept.

The Role of Artists in Sites for Learning

AbstractSocially engaged, participatory and educational arts activities have been recognised by artists as a legitimate area of creative practice for a considerable time. Current policy initiatives around social inclusion and life long learning demonstrate that this government has a keen interest in the transformative nature of creativity and participation in arts activity. This paper explores the significance of the, Arts Council's Artists in Sites for Learning Scheme and a related piece of research within the context of recent cultural agendas and governmental policy initiatives. The research examined the ‘forms of engagement’ that occur between artists, participants and others and concludes that the role the artist inhabits within this form of creative practice is multifaceted and highly sophisticated. This paper also raises key issues concerning the ‘value’ and critical assessment of this form of practice and the need for appropriate support for (and evaluation of) it in the future.