Art-making and well-being in healthy young adult women

The current study investigated the relationship between art-making and well-being in a group of young women artists, while addressing the context in which art-making occurred. Participants were ten female visual artists, twenty-five to thirty-three years of age, who created a variety of different types of visual art. The study employed a feminist standpoint epistemology and a phenomenological methodology. Data were collected through journals, focus groups, and an individual interview. The data were analyzed to understand the nature of the phenomenon of art-making, and its function in participants’ lives. Three main themes emerged in the study. First, participant's identity as an artist consisted of four parts, and contributed to their well-being. Second, the process and context of art-making interacted to influence participant's engagement in art-making and their social relationships. Third, various emotions and cognitions interacted with the process of art-making to influence participant‘s level of productivity. Finally, art-making provided an avenue for participants to manage their emotions. Overall, the study demonstrated that in certain contexts art-making can foster well-being in young adult women, suggesting that therapists can encourage art-making outside sessions to help clients enhance their mental health.

► Art-making fostered young women's well-being through multiple pathways.
► Artist identity, interaction of the process and context of art-making are discussed.
► Adds experience of young women to current art-making and well-being literature.
► Implications for psychotherapy are reviewed.