The Art and Happiness Project
Art and creativity build identity, self-esteem, purpose, connection and impact. They are an essential tool for improved well-being, mental-health and social change.
Through inspiring conversations with artists, scientists and experts, Agathe Westad investigates How and Why art can change our lives.
Get moved, inspired and energized. Get ready to look at art, and yourself, differently.
- Update frequency
- every 10 days
- Average duration
- 38 minutes
- Episodes
- 13
- Years Active
- 2022
Music & Writing to Express and Process Trauma | John Hopkins researcher and Ellery lead singerTasha Golden.
Lead singer from the great indie band Ellery, Tasha Golden, is also a scientific researcher at John Hopkins' International Art+ Mind Lab on the subject of Art's impact on Health.
Touring the world's …
Art at Meta | Meta Open Arts' Josephine Kelliher on art at work for innovation, community and wellness.
Art and creativity are not what one usually thinks of as core needs in a technology business or larger corporate environments. Well, think again. In a post-pandemic world where employees are less con…
Look Again, like the FBI | Amy Herman on using art to teach spies, doctors and others to observe, communicate and live better.
What do the FBI, NYPD, Department of Homeland Security, many US Hospitals, Johnson & Johnson, Planned Parenthood, and a group of nuns have in common? Amy Herman.
Amy is a lawyer and art historian tur…
Your Brain on Art | UPenn's Anjan Chatterjee on the neuroscience behind artistic experiences
"It's not obvious how or why art meets a need. We don't eat it, we don't have sex with it. Yet we are drawn to it and we've been making art since the begining of civilization"
Today's guest is Dr. Anj…
Street Symphony | Classical music for the homeless : a story of dignity and human connection.
✨This is about the healing and humanizing powers of classical music. I spoke with Dustin Seo, a classically trained cellist and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a Los Angeles based non-profit th…
Spraying Joy | Street artist Jason Naylor on the role of Positivity on city walls and in daily lives.
When you see amazing street art, how do you feel? what do you think? what difference does it make to you?
I spoke with acclaimed street artist Jason Naylor in his Studio. His works are all over New…
The Value of Taste | Cultivating your "Aesthetic Intelligence" for business and personal growth.
What is taste and why does it matter?
👩Columbia Business School professor and former LVMH Chairman Pauline Brown talks to me about the need and value of cultivating "aesthetic intelligence" aka Tast…
A new way to talk about art | Build empathy and self-knowledge at the museum.
☝️This episode is for anyone who ever found themselves in a museum thinking “I don’t get this, this has nothing to do with me” .
🟧 I spoke to the amazing Sam Ramos, from the Art Institute of Chicago, …
Shakespeare behind Bars | Criminals acting Shakespeare. A poignant tale of humanity and redemption.
Soul-stirring story alert! 😮 Shakespeare Behind Bars turns high-security prison inmates into Shakespearian actors. Curt L. Tofteland, program founder, tells the story of the power of language and act…
Ukraine Illustrated | Ukrainian illustrator Anna Sarvira on the role of art in wartime.
In wartime, what good is art? In the midst of the brutal Russian invasion destroying Ukraine, Ukrainian Illustrator Anna Sarvira talks about the role of art as a weapon for release, education and res…
Ordinary Art ? | Sheri Parks on everyday art as secret weapon to close social, racial and gender gaps
❓Can art help bridge culture, race and social gaps?
💯 🔊Sheri Parks talks about the pervasiveness and power of "everyday art" specifically in poorer African-Amercian communities, its function as tool …
"Art Heals" | Tim A Shaw on bringing awesome art to mental health units.
You thought amazing contemporary art belonged to galleries and penthouses? Think again.
Tim A Shaw, the founder of UK based charity Hospital Rooms challenges the idea of what and who art is for. Hosp…
"Everyone is a dancer" | Kate Wallich on making dance a universal pain-killer.
I wanted to talk about dance in a way anyone can relate to. Even if you’ve never thought of yourself as a dancer, in some way you probably are. Who's never moved to the sound of music?
Kate Wallich, …