The greatest social impacts of the participation in the arts… arise from their ability to help people think critically about and question their experiences and those of others… with all the excitement, danger, magic, colour, symbolism, feeling, metaphor and creativity that the arts offer. It is in the act of creativity that empowerment lies, and through sharing creativity that understanding and social inclusiveness are promoted.
Matarasso 1997
On the one hand, millions of dollars are committed to alleviating ill health through individual intervention. Meanwhile we ignore what our everyday experience tells us, i.e. the way we organise our society, the extent to which we encourage interaction among the citizenry and the degree to which we trust and associate with each other in caring communities is probably one of the most important determinants of health.
Lomas 1998
“The arts are not somehow apart from national life, the arts are at the heart of national life… In times of war and sacrifice, the arts – and artists – remind us to sing and to laugh and to live. In times of plenty, they challenge our conscience and implore us to remember the least among us. In moments of division or doubt, they compel us to see the common values that we share; the ideals to which we aspire, even if we sometimes fall short. In days of hardship, they renew our hope that brighter days are still ahead.”
US President, Barack Obama, Reception for Kennedy Center Honorees The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC 6 December 2009
Quotes from:
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) 2010. Building health through arts and new media, VicHealth Action plan 2010–13.
