Arts & Health · Emerging pathway

Towards Arts on Prescription in Belgium

Referral-friendly artist-led ateliers for care, wellbeing and participation.Arts on Prescription is internationally recognised as part of social prescribing, where people may be referred to creative or cultural activities that support wellbeing, social connection, participation and meaning. In Belgium, this is not yet a broadly formalised pathway. ARTKOM does not prescribe medically and does not offer therapy or treatment. ARTKOM can, however, help partners explore referral-friendly creative participation through carefully designed artist-led ateliers.

Nicky Myny in warm, artist-led conversation at an ARTKOM atelier table

An invitation to partners

Pre-book a pilot ARTKOM atelier and help build this pathway carefully in Belgium.

Start a Pilot Conversation International context

Why it matters

More than clinical conversation alone

Many people need more than clinical conversation alone. They may need spaces where they can reconnect with their body, imagination, social world and sense of meaning. Artist-led creative practice can offer a non-clinical setting where people engage through material, gesture, colour, attention and shared making.

This is not therapy. It is not a cure. It is a complementary cultural and creative pathway that can contribute to wellbeing, connection and participation.

International context

An emerging international field

Colourful participatory works on paper displayed on a studio wall, with wildflowers in a glass vase on a wooden table

The World Health Organization has identified a growing evidence base for the role of the arts in health and wellbeing.
Arts on Prescription is often connected to social prescribing, where people are referred to non-clinical creative, cultural or community activities alongside medical care.
International examples show how cultural and creative participation can become part of wider care and wellbeing systems.
Brussels has already experimented with museum prescriptions through cultural and healthcare partnerships.
Belgium has promising initiatives, but Arts on Prescription is not yet a broadly formalised national pathway.

Pre-book an ARTKOM Atelier

A pilot-friendly model for partners

Healthcare practices, care organisations, cultural partners, wellbeing initiatives, municipalities or social organisations can pre-book an artist-led ARTKOM atelier for people who may benefit from a meaningful creative space.

This could be relevant for people experiencing loneliness, stress, life transition, long-term illness, care-related vulnerability or a need for reconnection through non-clinical creative participation.

Nicky Myny with partners gathered around visual traces on a table in the ARTKOM atelier

Format: 2-hour artist-led atelier
Group: Small group, ideally 6–8 participants
Experience: No artistic experience needed
Practice: Rooted in painting, material exploration and shared creative practice
Location: Hosted at ARTKOM or in collaboration with a partner location
Access: Referral-friendly, but not medical treatment
Booking: One-off pilot or a short series
Pre-booking: From €450 excl. VAT, pre-booked by partner organisations

What a pilot atelier is

Participation, presence, meaning through art

Participants engaged in guided creative process at an ARTKOM atelier

A pre-booked Arts on Prescription atelier allows a healthcare, care or wellbeing partner to make creative participation accessible to people who may benefit from a non-clinical space for making, reflection and connection.

The atelier is artist-led, not therapeutic. Participants are invited into a guided creative process using material, colour, gesture and shared attention. The focus is not on learning to paint, producing a beautiful result or analysing personal problems. The focus is on participation, presence, expression and meaning through art.

This model can be used as a small pilot for organisations interested in exploring how arts and health can meet in practice.

Sources & references

A short reading list for partners exploring Arts on Prescription and social prescribing in a cultural and creative context.

Take initiative

Start a Pilot Conversation

Are you a GP, psychologist, care organisation, cultural partner, municipality or wellbeing initiative interested in making artist-led creative participation accessible to your community? ARTKOM welcomes conversations around small pilot ateliers and future Arts on Prescription models in Belgium.

Nicky Myny in a warm, professional conversation with a partner at the atelier table

Start a Pilot Conversation

ARTKOM does not diagnose, treat or prescribe medically. Arts on Prescription is presented here as an emerging Arts & Health model and potential pilot direction, not as a formal Belgian healthcare service.