Happiness

Our formative research into the intersection of public values and arts, culture, and creativity, identified that the American public believes that if they had more opportunity to express or experience creativity in their lives, they would be happier.

As you craft stories, messages, and programs that tap into this HAPPINESS benefit, consider the following concepts that share how connecting through creative expression…

  • Creates lasting memories

  • Promotes interaction with people, reduces social isolation, and builds stronger relationships

  • Provides opportunities for us to experience the full range of human emotion, and makes us more present in everyday moments

  • Is fun!

 

News you can use

A growing collection of studies, trends, and new ideas about art, creativity, and happiness.

Featured
Getting creative about addressing social isolation
Getting creative about addressing social isolation

How initiatives across the UK are tackling loneliness and what the arts can do to help

The Irrefutable Science of Happiness
The Irrefutable Science of Happiness

More research points to human connection as a source of happiness, bringing joy to researchers studying happiness. (Cue: Circle of Life)

The Sheldon Theatre: Becoming Unforgettable
The Sheldon Theatre: Becoming Unforgettable

Sheldon Theatre is showing it is more than what’s on stage. It’s become a home for creative experiences and lifelong memories.

City Lights: Inspiring audiences through radical hospitality
City Lights: Inspiring audiences through radical hospitality

When radical is just right: how reimagining audience engagement helps patrons feel more at home and inspired.

New Ballet School: Tapping in to the power of memories
New Ballet School: Tapping in to the power of memories

Sometimes it’s time to try out a new dance. How letting stakeholders tell their own stories can increase ad engagement and translate into higher enrollment.

When Baking is Blissful
When Baking is Blissful

Whether you’re gluten free or gluten spree, it’s time to perfect that pie (and then share, please). 

An Army of Choristers
An Army of Choristers

The annual Army-Navy football game may celebrate physical prowess, but creativity is not lost among the crowd.

Swing low, swing high, just make sure you bring a friend
Swing low, swing high, just make sure you bring a friend

Why a musical swing set that fosters cooperation might be the best thing for your community right now. 

Laughometers, hopscotch, and life-sized puzzles
Laughometers, hopscotch, and life-sized puzzles

Something straight out of Dr. Seuss or new tools designed to spark connection? 

Money Can’t Measure Happiness (Or Can It?)
Money Can’t Measure Happiness (Or Can It?)

If happiness is one of our greatest outputs (how) can we measure it?

Sports, songs, and early homo sapiens
Sports, songs, and early homo sapiens

Why do we sing together? Research suggests that choral signing may be one of the most emotionally satisfying things you can do, and the chemistry behind it may even explain why our ancestors sang together.

Your daily goosebumps
Your daily goosebumps

In perhaps the ultimate hipster experiment, Rufus Wainwright and 1,500 close friends (not really) sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah together in an industrial warehouse (and it’s pretty breathtaking). 

Preaching about the choir
Preaching about the choir

Who attends choral music concerts? Why do they go? And what impact does the experience have on them?

"Why Making Music Matters"
"Why Making Music Matters"

Dig into a report by WolfBrown and Carnegie Hall about the power of live music on young minds.

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