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Artists Practising Well is a new research report by visual artist Nicola Naismith, focusing on the topic of affective support for creative practitioners working in participatory arts in health and wellbeing. Naismith was a Visual Artist Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme in 2017/18 and the research was supported by a grant from the the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK via the Clore Leadership Programme.
‘If the arts are positive for participants, so too should they be for the creative practitioners delivering them.’
The report has been prepared with a wide readership in mind: creative practitioners, arts commissioners, organisational leaders, funders and policy makers.
The research is informed by the experiences of creative practitioners working in arts for health and wellbeing, collected via an online survey. The survey asked for current support experiences, what practitioners do for themselves and what they would like in the future. The report details how the landscape of affective support for creative practitioners is mixed, with some receiving good support, while others aren’t getting enough or any.
The Literature Review maps the territories adjacent to this work, the current context of arts in health and wellbeing and the prominence of this work both in current academic research and practitioner guidance. It also looks at other influential factors including work management, practitioner wellbeing and how this is affected by the gig economy. Reflective practice is explored in the context of self supporting activities which practitioners could undertake. Finally it gathers relevant texts related to practising in non arts contexts, and the artist in public life.
‘It is essential that the health and wellbeing of artists is properly supported, which in turn will help them to deliver the best quality work in the participatory arts for health and wellbeing sector.’ – Nicola Naismith
Artists Practising Well Report is available to read and download from Open Air, the Robert Gordon University Research Repository:
https://openair.rgu.ac.uk/handle/10059/3371
Further information on Nicola Naismith: www.nicolanaismith.co.uk