The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in Decreasing Depressive Symptomology: A Meta-Analysis

Art therapy is an increasingly popular treatment modality with various mental health professionals; however, despite its increasing popularity and utilization, the field suffers from a continued lack of empirically validated studies that demonstrate its effectiveness. Thus, this study performed a meta-analysis on studies that utilized therapeutic art interventions with depressive symptoms in order to produce an overall effect size (ES) regarding the effectiveness of art therapy on depression. Additionally, this study attempted to determine moderating factors that might influence the magnitude of the ES. The present meta-analysis included 18 published and unpublished studies that produced a significant (p=0.001) ES of -1.10 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) of -1.64 to -0.56), thus demonstrating that art therapy has a large effect on the reduction of depression-related symptoms in participants. The results of this analysis are comparable to other meta-analyses of psychotherapeutic treatments for depression (Mazzucchelli, Kane, & Rees, 2009; Gloaguen, Cottraux, Cucherat, & Blackburn, 1998; Cuijper, van Straten, Andersson, & van Oppen, 2008). This study also covers clinically relevant issues regarding treating depression with art therapy and makes recommendations for further research.

Discovering a history : the school of art at the University of Denver

Discovering a History: The School of Art at the University of Denver explores the early history of art education in Denver, and the significance of visual art education at the University of Denver within that history beginning in 1865, when the first classes in art were offered, and ending in 1929 when the University acquired the Chappell School of Art—an independent art school—and appointed Vance Kirkland as director. This paper also explores competing art institutions, which at times posed great hindrances to the University. Further, it illustrates how the artists who taught at the University of Denver School of Art, such as Ida De Steiguer, Preston Powers, Emma Richardson Cherry, and Henry Read, were amongst the great contributors to Denver’s burgeoning artistic culture.