Developing Personal Arts Practice to Promote Wellbeing

There is a structured way of using art making to promote wellbeing called Open Studio Process developed by artist and arts therapist Pat B Allen, here.

This is a way of working designed to offer a consistent, tested and contained way of making arts for health and wellbeing. It comprises an hour-long long tightly structured programme in which people use a specific sequence of activities to make art to gain insight into themselves, their emotions and their thoughts. This gaining insight is the source of health benefits.

Open Studio Process is a well developed, structured & safe way to use art making to promote wellbeing. Evidence of its effectiveness can be found here. This work is not approached as art therapy, but may be therapeutic.

This is How It Works

A group of people interested in using art making to gain insight into themselves, such that it may promote wellbeing, meet together with a facilitator for about an hour.

They follow this sequence.

1. People share brief personal introductions.

2. A trained facilitator describes what will happen and describes what few rules apply.

3. Each person is invited to reflect on and write down an intention for their art making in a provided notebook. This could be as simple as ‘Work with acrylics’ or as deep as ‘Reflect on a row I had last night’. This is set, then the book is closed and the intention is forgotten.

4. The person makes art for about 20–30 minutes, and is invited to make it in a way that they find pleasurable and relaxing.

5. The person then stops and looks at their art and reflects on what they made and what happened when they made it. They may reflect on their intention. They write this down in their notebook. They then read what they wrote. This is about 5–10 minutes.

6. When this is done, each person has the opportunity to share (or not) with the group their art, and some of what they wrote in their book. One of the few rules here is that of ‘No Comment’. We only share what was made as art and what was written in the book. The art & the writing can speak for themselves. All the participants share in witnessing this.

7. The session ends with some closure from the facilitator.

Below are two YouTube videos of Pat talking about the Open Studio Process. We will start with a simpler version of this and develop our work over time.

Here, Pat leads a group of therapists.

Here, she walks you through the process at a personal level.

Why do Open Studio Process?

The idea is not that you make art to show in public, but to make art to show you something about yourself. This is using the experience of art making to learn something about your own experience and help you become more reflective. Open Studio Process can be used to help you develop your own personal practice as a way to promote your well-being. It can help you work with personal practice in a reflective way.

Why do this at Restore?

The hope is that over time, we do more sessions like this, such that the people who attend may find a way to support each other in their own personal practice outside of the sessions. We approach this as an experiment in art making to see how it may develop.

What do you need to do to attend?

Just follow announcements from Restore, look for cards in the usual places, and attend the sessions. Given the reflective nature of the process, places will be limited to allow time for reflection.

Details of the first session are at the foot of the page.

The whole process does not need a lot of material, nor does it require artistic skills. All you need to do is follow the process and see where it takes you. You share what you want to share, and we listen and make no comment. Your art can speak for itself, and the Open Studio Process helps you learn to listen to what it has to say. Art making is approached in a playful, enjoyable way.

Materials are provided, and the process is guided by a trained facilitator in a structured, contained way. It is not about making art as much as attending to what happens when you make art. In this way, it is a bit like mindful meditation.

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First session 2-3pm, Tuesday, July 15th, 2025.

No skills or equipment needed.

Just bring yourself and an open mind.

Restore Carlisle

37 Castle Street, Cumbria, CA3 8SY
T: 07465 823900