Detail: Bruce Doyle, Bird Study, 1989, acrylic on masonite, 90 x 59 cm

Research

The Dax Centre is developing a research program that will explore the role art therapy has in improving the general health and wellbeing of people experiencing mental illness or trauma. It aims to examine the positive effects that engaging with art has on the health and wellbeing of the general community.

It will also expand on an ARC-funded research project, Framing Marginalised Art, conducted in collaboration with the Melbourne Museum and the University of Melbourne, which looked at how to present art ethically to promote mental health.

The Dax Centre will become a peak research hub that actively promotes excellence and rigorous academic research methodologies. This will ensure that art therapy continues to grow as a respected profession and a scholarly academic discipline. In doing so, it will work with several art therapy organisations and networks at an international level.

It will: develop a comprehensive database of art therapy, and the arts and mental health-related research; develop appropriate and systematic approaches to conducting research into art therapy and the arts and mental health; publish reviews of research already undertaken to identify gaps and encourage further research; and conduct Dax Centre-led research, such as Art and the Emotional World of Children.