Art as the fifth pillar of health

Here on the blog we often jokingly say,  “move it,  move it, ” echoing those famous fitness ambassadors, the lemurs in the Madagascar movie.

But maybe we ought also to say,  “make it,  make it.”

The arts are emerging as a fifth, evidence-based pillar of health—alongside diet, sleep, exercise, and nature.

My role as an arts dean rarely overlaps with my role here on the blog, and yet last night’s panel discussion on why the arts matter got me thinking about the connections. The panel featured new faculty members in the arts at the U of Guelph, including Rebecca Barnstaple who works in our new Bachelor of Creative Arts, Health, and Wellness. Her main work is in dance and neuroscience, but on the panel she was talking more generally about the ways in which the arts impact health.

There’s a new book I’ve been wanting to read in this area, Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health by Daisy Fancourt.

In my life, I’m mostly a passive consumer of the arts. This weekend I went to Tafelmusik’s Celebration of Bach on Friday night, and on Saturday we went to see a student production of Into the Woods. I really enjoyed both, but I suspect that attending plays and concerts doesn’t have the same health impact as making art. I don’t sing in a choir or practise dance. YetI love that when I was searching for past posts on the subject, I found that many other bloggers deliberately make room for making art in their lives. Check out all the posts by Christine and Nat on the subject. Cate and the other Samantha chime in too.

How about you? What do you do that fits into this fifth pillar of health?

Past blog posts on art and well-being:

Crafts and Making Things

1. Handicraft, repetitive stress injuries and keeping nimble fingers— Natalie Hebert, January 30, 2016
A post on how knitting, crocheting, sewing, and needlepoint can actually prevent repetitive stress injuries by cross-training muscles and connective tissues, alongside reflections on yarn crafts as anxiety relief — “I joke that knitting and crocheting helps me turn my ball of anxiety into lovely items” — and on how making things connects the author to women in her life.

2. Big arms and making bread— October 1, 2016
Another post by Nat and this one touches on the emotional and sensory satisfactions of bread-making — the pride of a finished loaf, the smell, the physical feel — framing it as a pleasurable activity that “adds punctuation to the day.”

Music

3. The effect of music on Christine’s brain: A (very) small sample experiment — Christine Hennebury, May 17, 2022
Christine, who has ADHD, experiments with cello music as a tool for focus and calm, reporting that it produces the same “sensory-soothing” effect as a weighted shoulder wrap or lying in a hammock. She describes playing it while meditating, drawing, colouring, or reading and feeling herself sinking deeper into those relaxing activities.

Dance and Movement as Creative Practice

4. Dancing in the kitchen with Christine— Christine Hennebury, December 17, 2024
Christine writes about the joy of kitchen dancing as a form of movement and creative self-expression — informal, accessible, and mood-lifting.

5. Better when I’m dancing— Cate, September 13, 2019
Cate reflects on spontaneously dancing around her barbell during rest periods at the gym, finding that playful, musical movement during workouts lifts her mood and changes how she experiences exercise.

Storytelling as Creative Health Practice

6. Christine’s April Plans— Christine Hennebury, April 1, 2025
Christine opens with a school storytelling tour, observing that storytelling is great for her mental health — especially combined with breaking routine and spending time with a friend — and that the creative work also boosts her physical wellbeing by making movement feel more natural.

Art and Body Image

7. My Body is not the Unfortunate Container for my Personality — and Other Lessons I Learned Art Modeling — Guest post by Samantha Walsh, January 30, 2015
A guest post exploring art modelling as a practice that challenged and transformed the author’s relationship with her body, connecting art, embodiment, and health.