14 Year Study Suggests Art Lovers Live Longer

About 10 years ago I wrote a blog post that shared how doodling improves memory. It was based on a study published in 2009 that had been written up in Time magazine. Does Doodling Improve Your Memory? You can read about it here.

That blog post, and the article it cited, came to mind when I read this link to a Psychology Today story titled Do Art Lovers Live Longer? The article by Christopher Bergland begins:

People who engage in arts-related cultural activities such as going to museums or musical concerts may have a lower risk of dying prematurely, according to a new study by researchers from University College London (UCL).

Well, what do you make of that? Frankly, I thought I was going to the Tweed Museum here in the Twin Ports and the Duluth Art Institute because I enjoyed the art. Was I subconsciously driven by a secret mega-maniacal quest to live forever?

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Scarlet Rivera with Gene LaFond at Weber Hall
Photo: Andrew Perfetti

My first taste of art appreciation came when I was enrolled in classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art the summer before I attended kindergarten. I've been forever grateful to my parents for having given me that opportunity.

Here's what I recall about that ten-week class, of which I may have been the youngest "student." My parents dropped me off once a week and disappeared for a while. Our class head off to a different section of the art museum where that day's activity would be conducted. Talk about getting exposed to art and developing art appreciation. The Middle Ages were especially memorable, with all those detailed embellishments on the armor, swords and the like. To this day I have enjoyed visiting art museums, galleries and artist's studios.

An interesting feature of the Psychology Today article is how music also contributes to long life. My only recommendation as regards live concerts is that you be careful to take care of your hearing. Who wants to live 10 years longer than their hearing lasts? This, I suppose, is one advantage of visual arts over rock concerts. There is no evidence that I'm aware of that a person went blind from looking at too many Van Goghs.

The 14 year study involved nearly 7,000 adults, claiming to demonstrate that "those who participated in cultural activities 'every few months or more' had a 31 percent lower risk of premature death."

See Wendy Rouse's paintings at Lizzards Gallery, Duluth

That's intriguing. After peer review the study was published in the British Medical Journal. FWIW the paper's authors are not suggesting that there is a causal link between arts appreciation and longer life, only that cultural activities and long life are correlative.

The authors of the study point to 8 ways the arts and longevity may be correlative.
1. Alleviates chronic stress and depression by facilitating face-to-face social interactions.
2. Enhances social capital, which builds individual and collective resources.
3. Reduces perceived social isolation and loneliness.
4. Promotes emotional intelligence, boosts social perception, and may increase empathy.
5. Increases physical activity and reduces sedentary behaviors, which benefits psychological and physical well-being. (EdNote: As opposed to becoming a lifelong couch potato)
6. May increase having a stronger sense of purpose in life.
7. Fosters creativity and imagination.
8. Arts-related activities, in addition to a wide range of other "leisure time" activities (e.g., gardening, having a hobby, going to church), may have a protective association with premature mortality.

The authors note that you do not have to be rich to enjoy the arts. Art openings are a regular feature of the Twin Ports arts scene, all free and all are welcome. Yes, it costs an arm and a leg to go to a show on Broadway, but there's plenty of college and community theater taking place around the country that is well within your means.

I'm probably just preaching to the choir. So be it. Will I see you at the next opening? I mean, when this quarantine lifts, of course.

Related Links
Twin Ports Art
A Virtual Gallery Hop Like No Other: The Louvre, Guggenheim and Local Art, Too
You can even see the world's greatest galleries while quarantined!
Do Art Lovers Live Longer?