Brenau University is partnering with the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in a two-year study focused on the impact of art museums and the well-being of diverse adult populations.
The study is funded by an $80,000 research grant the High Museum recently received from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Barbara Steinhaus, chair of Brenau’s Music Department, and Claudia Wilburn, chair of the Art & Design Department and director of Brenau’s Center for the Arts & Design, are co-principal investigators, alongside the High’s Julia Forbes, associate director of institutional research, and Andrew Westover. Ph.D., the Eleanor M. Storza deputy director of learning and civic engagement.
“In 2019, the World Health Organization published a report on arts and health, and one of the things they found was that people who visited an art museum, went to a concert, or participated in an artistic activity had a 17% decrease in feelings of isolation,” Steinhaus said. “The outgoing U.S. surgeon general recently spoke about community in his Prescription for America speech and the idea that social isolation and loneliness, particularly in older adults, is a problem. It is almost as if loneliness is the greatest killer.”
Steinhaus, who has a Doctor of Musical Arts, has a background in arts in healthcare and a graduate certificate in the field.
The study begins this year and will examine the social, emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual effects of art museum visitation on diverse adult populations. It will conclude in 2027. Atlanta-based arts and health research firm Performance Hypothesis will support protocol and data collection.
Fine arts students from Brenau will take part in collecting data by assisting participants and explaining the program, Steinhaus said.
With this award, the High becomes the first museum in the United States to lead an NEA research grant and analysis in the arts. The grant is one of only 18 awarded by the NEA this year to support a broad range of research studies that investigate the value or impact of the arts.
More details about the study and the museum can be found on the High Museum’s website. Brenau and the High Museum have partnered for nearly a decade, including an annual student exhibit.
(PHOTO: A museum-goer views student art at the closing reception for the Brenau University Student Exhibition at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in 2018.)