The act of creating art and taking part in the creative process is not only enjoyable, it can also be a therapeutic experience. The correlation between art and healing has long been studied — a 2018 report from the Arts in Psychotherapy found that participating in 50 minutes of art improved pain levels, moods and anxiety levels for patients regardless of age or diagnosis. In addition, a 2009 film “I Remember Better When I Paint” details how art improved the quality of life for Alzheimer’s patients, a 2003 study published by John Hopkins University found that displaying artistic murals by the bedside of recovering patients reduced pain, and the list goes on.
With such strong evidence that art can be an effective form of relief, art therapy has, for years, been incorporated into many schools, hospitals, rehab centers, and also into prisons and other correctional facilities. Many states, such as California and Oregon, have had prison art programs for decades — Idaho, on the other hand, was much later to the game. Founded in the summer of 2021, the Idaho Prison Arts Collective, a Boise-based nonprofit, has been trying to bring the power of art therapy into Idaho’s prison system.