The Impact of Urban art on Wellbeing: A Laboratory Study

Art has proven be an asset in maintaining and enhancing our wellbeing. Following a recent field study, the present laboratory investigation assessed whether and to what extent an interaction with art in urban public spaces can positively impact experienced wellbeing. Participants watched videos simulating an interaction with a parking-lot-sized intervention decorated with art, greenery (active control), or nothing (conventional control) in an urban setting. Before and after interacting with each video, participants’ anxiety, stress, positive and negative mood were measured. Subjective experiences of the location and the intervention were also collected. Results showed a unique pattern for the art: (1) while positive mood decreased for both active and conventional controls, it remained stable in the art and (2) exploratory analyses suggested a positive correlation between subjective experiences and wellbeing only for the art. Current results as well as differences and advantages of field and laboratory studies were discussed.