{"id":219784,"date":"2026-03-14T17:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/219784\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T17:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:49:08","slug":"the-remarkable-rise-of-art-therapy-for-san-diego-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/219784\/","title":{"rendered":"The remarkable rise of art therapy for San Diego health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>Visitors at the Mingei International Museum. (File photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Recently\u00a0the Prebys Foundation<\/a> launched an initiative called \u00a0\u201cHealing Through the Arts and Nature,\u201d awarding $5.2\u00a0million in grants to\u00a059\u00a0nonprofits across San\u00a0Diego.<\/p>\n

At the same time, an initiative called Art Pharmacy<\/a>, a referral\u00a0and partnering service, just opened in our region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

Art Pharmacy is working with partners in California, including a pilot for San Diego and the Imperial Valley,\u00a0\u00a0to \u201cconnect people to arts and culture engagements in their communities to support their health and well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why the increasing interest in art as therapy? Rady Children\u2019s\u00a0Hospital in San Diego put\u00a0it this way: <\/p>\n

\u201cArt therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses art-making and creativity to increase emotional well-being. Art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process involved in making art is healing and life-enhancing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The innovative painter Vincent van Gogh famously severed part of his ear after a confrontation with his friend, fellow painter Paul Gauguin. In 1889, amid deepening mental illness, he voluntarily checked himself into the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-R\u00e9my-de-Provence, France.<\/p>\n

What is less known is that during his one-year stay, Van Gogh experienced what is now considered the most\u00a0extraordinarily productive period of his artistic life. In just 70 days, he created more than\u00a075 paintings\u00a0and over\u00a0100 sketches and drawings\u00a0depicting the surrounding countryside, the village and the natural beauty of Provence \u2014 fields of golden wheat, cypress trees, olive groves and the brilliant skies of southern France.<\/p>\n

Though the term didn\u2019t exist at the time,\u00a0Van Gogh\u2019s time in Saint-R\u00e9my could be seen as an early example of\u00a0art therapy\u00a0in action.\u00a0Art therapists have specialized knowledge about the psychological aspects of the creative process, especially the emotional effects of different art materials and techniques.<\/p>\n

The medical staff at the asylum, progressive for their time, recognized that\u00a0painting calmed Van Gogh\u00a0and allowed him to express his deepest emotions. While they may not have had a name for it, they understood the therapeutic value of creativity. <\/p>\n

Van Gogh himself believed in the healing power of art. He often applied paint with his fingers, using a technique known as\u00a0impasto \u2014 layering thick textures directly onto the canvas.\u00a0The Starry Night, painted during his stay, is perhaps the most famous result of this method and this moment of fragile healing.<\/p>\n

The term\u00a0\u201cart therapy\u201d\u00a0wasn\u2019t coined until 1942, but by the early 20th century, practitioners began to see that the\u00a0act of making art \u2014 like all art \u2014 served as a powerful form of expression, especially for people grappling with anxiety, depression, trauma or mental illness.<\/p>\n

Art therapists are credentialed mental health professionals with training in both psychological theory and\u00a0creative practice. They work with a wide range of materials \u2014 paint, clay, collage and even non-traditional elements like twigs, leaves or found objects \u2014 to help clients access parts of themselves that are difficult to express verbally. Through this process, clients often uncover\u00a0nonverbal cues and deep metaphors\u00a0that lead to growth, self-awareness and healing.<\/p>\n

Art therapy is not about skill or talent; it\u2019s about using\u00a0creative expression as a tool for emotional insight. People from all walks of life \u2014 including those who have never considered themselves \u201cartistic\u201d \u2014 can benefit.<\/p>\n

John Eger\u00a0is a professor emeritus in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. He previously served as telecommunications advisor to President Gerald R. Ford, legal assistant to FCC Chairman Dean Burch, and Senior Vice President of CBS Worldwide Enterprises. He also chaired San Diego\u2019s City of the Future Committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors at the Mingei International Museum. (File photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego) Recently\u00a0the Prebys Foundation launched…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[100644,44675,1558,17724,74,76,75,17416],"class_list":["post-219784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-art-pharmacy","tag-art-therapy","tag-healing","tag-prebys-foundation","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-vincent-van-gogh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}