A closer look @ Art Cafe III
9 in 10 partygoers report that painting improved their mood.
This past April, I had the pleasure of throwing my third Art Café - a creative event experience that involves getting creative and having fun.
This time around, I approached the party with more structure. As a researcher I couldn’t help but wonder: how would painting alter people’s moods?
Art Café III consisted of 31 participants - 20 females and 11 males. After a brief painting tutorial, creative prompts were pulled at random. The participants (let’s call them artists from here on out) then painted in groups of 7 for 20-minute sessions. Participating artists were encouraged to get experimental, and potentially even abstract.
“Art Café has two rules,” I told my guests. “The first is that the world is your oyster, and the second is that aside from rule #1, there are no rules.” The goal of Art Café is not to create something that meets an external standard, but rather to enjoy the process of creativity while releasing your attachment to the outcome.
Following their painting sessions, my guests were kind enough to indulge me and take my survey. The data speaks for itself…
It warms my heart to report that the people love Art Café! Among our sample of 31 participating artists, over 9 in 10 (95%) report enjoying the experience of painting.
“I love art café,” said one participant.
“Best day ever,” said another.
“Art cafe was the best day of my life can you host more!!”
Absolutely!
In addition to being an enjoyable activity, painting has the power to alter our moods for the better. 90% report that painting improved their mood – more specifically, 42% report that painting improved their mood significantly, and around half (48%) report that painting improved their mood somewhat.
The positive benefits of creativity were palpable at Art Café III. Diving more into the emotional effect of painting, 71% report feeling relaxed after painting, and 65% report feeling uplifted and more positive. Nearly half (48%) report feeling content, and 42% report feeling inspired.
Prompts ranged from “Paint your pet, real or imagined” to “Paint your favorite emotion.”
An artist who painted from the “Paint your favorite emotion” prompt reports painting the feeling of being “at ease,” and illustrated this abstractly with “the colors of emotion”.
Another artist interpreted the prompt by painting “swirly things that represented excitement,” reporting that she “went abstract and followed the vibe. I learned additional respect for abstract artists tbh (to be honest).” Others responded to this prompt by painting “Crying in the shower” (relatable) and “bursting with love”. I’m so impressed with where guests took these prompts!
Art Café also provides participants the opportunity to learn about themselves, by prompting the artist to analyze and reflect on their work. For example, in response to the prompt “Paint the ugliest thing you can think of” one artist painted “A dead juul.” When asked to interpret the meaning of his response, he deduced that “I need to quit nicotine.” I love how Art Café goers harness their creativity for personal growth!
It's incredibly inspiring to see guests evolve so quickly from feeling unfamiliar with painting to creatively inspired. Art Café is an invitation for creativity to lead us down new pathways of discovery, and to connect with ourselves and others in a meaningful way. Cheers to many more!
- Charlotte
