Could visiting an art gallery be the new shortcut to happiness?

Featured on womanandhome.com

Taking in the local arts and culture scene, is for many, the ideal way to spend a weekend.

Whether that’s contemplating sculptures and unique installations at a nearby gallery or booking tickets to a rousing theatre production, the combination of leisure and learning can have a profound effect on our sense of wellbeing.

And this is exactly what has been revealed by a new report by Arts Council England.

It found that 65 per cent of those questioned believe arts and culture to be ‘good for wellbeing’, while 36 per cent also felt that engagement with arts and culture was ‘essential to life’.

A further 49 per cent of those surveyed revealed that that attending arts and culture events helped them feel more integrated in their community, which in turn boosted their overall sense of wellbeing.

‘A strong arts and cultural offer makes people feel more content and thus more likely to stay within an area,’ the study’s authors write. ‘Accounting for a range of factors that influence life satisfaction, people attending a wider range of arts and cultural events are more satisfied with their lives than people who don’t.’

In a episode of Dr Rangan Chaterjee’s popular Feel Better, Live More podcast, released earlier this year, Director of the Art Fund, Stephen Deuchar, describes museums and art galleries as an untapped wellbeing resource.

He also talks about the fact that we can seamlessly blend an arts and culture visit into our hectic daily lives via a ‘micro-visit’, such as taking a quick tour of an art gallery within walking distance of your workplace during a lunch break, while still reaping benefits for our wellbeing.

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