Quotes About The Benefits of Art & Art-Making

As you know I believe in the healing power of art. My quotes about art and healing have appeared in many books, websites and other online resources. This one especially is well known: “The medical profession has come a long way in recognizing the healing benefits of art. My hope is that someday the arts will be considered as significant in everyone’s lives as breathing fresh air, eating clean foods, and performing physical exercise.” ~ Renee Phillips

Enjoy and share this collection of positive quotes about the benefits of art from a wide variety of artists and leaders who share our beliefs and vision — that art is a catalyst for positive change.

“Variety of form and brilliancy of color in the object presented to patients are an actual means of recovery.” ~ Florence Nightingale

“During my 30 years at Americans for the Arts, I have had the great privilege to visit and learn about a different community nearly every week. While they differ vastly from one another, there is one common strength I have observed: the arts have made a profound impact on the health of each community.” ~ Robert L. Lynch, President, Americans for the Arts

“Art is an effort to create, beside the real world, a more humane world.” ~ Andre Maurois, French Author

“Art is a wound turned into light.” ~ Georges Braque

“Art has always been the raft onto which we climb to save our sanity. I don’t see a different purpose for it now.” ~ Dorothea Tanning

“The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.” ~ Paracelsus

“We share the importance of the arts, not only in society but also in building one’s self-esteem. And the kids really grasp that: They’re confident and proud of themselves and share art with the people in their lives.” ~ Agnes Gund, founder of Studio in a School

“The arts are a critical component of healthcare. Expressive art is a tool to explore, develop and practice creativity as a means to wellness.” ~ Wellarts Association

“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity.” ~ Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

“A new study called ‘Positive Affect and Markers of Inflammation: Discrete Positive Emotions Predict Lower Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines,’ published in the journal Emotion, found that activities that inspire awe may actually boost the immune system.” ~ Laura C. Mallonee, hyperallergic.com

“Participants provided saliva samples to assess cortisol levels before and after 45 minutes of art making. Participants also provided written responses about the experience at the end of the session. Results indicate that art making resulted in statistically significant lowering of cortisol levels.” ~ Journal of the American Art Therapy Association

“Art making has the ability to move people along their journey of grief and loss into a more balanced place of healing and hope. In the face of tragedy, the creative process can help re-calibrate a mourner’s life.” ~ The Chandler Gallery at Maud Morgan Arts

“The mood changes when our beautiful nature photos are placed on the walls, providing color, comfort, and hope to patients, caregivers, and loved ones.” ~ Elaine Poggi, founder of The Foundation for Photo/Art in Hospitals (Read article.)

“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.” ~John Lubbock (1834-1913), “The Pleasures of Life”

“Arts and culture make considerable and necessary contributions to the well-being of communities. Arts and culture are powerful tools with which to engage communities in various levels of change. They are a means to public dialogue, contribute to the development of a community’s creative learning, create healthy communities capable of action, provide a powerful tool for community mobilization and activism, and help build community capacity and leadership.” ~ Creative City Network of Canada

The arts empower. The arts give a voice to the voiceless. The arts help transform American communities and, as I often say, the result can be a better child, a better town, a better nation and certainly a better world. Let’s champion our arts action heroes, emulate them and make our communities everything we want them to be.” ~ Robert L. Lynch, President, Americans for the Arts

“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him… We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” ~ John F. Kennedy

“The systems they nourish, which include our integrated sensory, attentional, cognitive, emotional, and motor capacities, are, in fact, the driving forces behind all other learning.” ~ Eric Jensen, author of Arts with the Brain in Mind

“When artists give form to revelation, their art can advance, deepen and potentially transform the consciousness of their community.” ~ Alex Grey

“Awe has many important implications for our well-being. Experiencing awe can give us a sense of hope and provide a feeling of fulfillment.” ~ Shilagh Mirgain, PhD, Psychologist, University of Wisconsin Health. Read Increase Your Well-Being With Awe-Inspiring Art

“The country is so wounded, bleeding, and hurt right now. The country needs to be healed—it’s not going to be healed from the top, politically. How are we going to heal? Art is the healing force.” ~ Robert Redford, National Arts Policy Roundtable 2012

“Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

“The medical profession has come a long way in recognizing the healing benefits of art. My hope is that someday the arts will be considered as significant and essential in everyone’s lives as breathing fresh air, eating clean foods, and engaging in physical exercise.” ~ Renée Phillips

“The investments we are making here won’t just help our students explore music, dance and the arts. They will help these children grow in a way that helps them succeed in school and in life.” ~ Bill de Blasio

“We are in a time once again where our need for the arts is growing more and more apparent. Controversy and anger and fear seem to swirl around us these days in large supply. This has happened plenty of times in our history. We have needed and sought the healing and teaching power of the arts for a long time, perhaps forever.” ~ Robert Lynch, President and CEO, Americans For The Arts

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