Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives

Description:

Shortlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction

A groundbreaking exposé showing how the arts--alongside diet, sleep, exercise and nature--are the forgotten fifth pillar of health

From cradle to grave, engaging in the arts has remarkable effects on our health and well-being. Music supports the architectural development of children's brains. Artistic hobbies help our brains to stay resilient against dementia. Dance and magic tricks build new neural pathways for people with brain injuries. Arts and music act just like drugs to decrease depression, stress, and pain, reducing our dependence on medication. Going to live music events, museums, exhibitions, and the theater decreases our risk of future loneliness and frailty. Engaging in the arts improves the functioning of every major organ system in the body, even helping us to live longer.

This isn't sensationalism, it's science: the results of decades of studies gathering data from neuroimaging, molecular biomarkers, wearable sensors, cognitive assessments, and electronic health records. From professor Daisy Fancourt, an award-winning scientist and science communicator and director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health, this book will fundamentally change the way you value and engage with the arts in your daily life and give you the tools to optimize how, when, and what arts you engage in to achieve your health goals. The arts are not a luxury in our lives. They are essential.

Brief description: Daisy Fancourt is Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London where she heads the Social Biobehavioural Research Group, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. She has published 300 scientific papers and won over two dozen academic prizes. She is a multi-award-winning science communicator and has been named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and BBC New Generation Thinker. Daisy is listed as one of the most highly cited scientists in the world.

Review Quotes:

Shortlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction
Featured in Next Big Idea Club's February Must-Reads

"An important and timely contribution that brings even more rigorous evidence to how the arts impact our health and well-being. A vital continuation in building the field and in making the arts a part of our everyday practice."
--Susan Magsamen, co-author of Your Brain on Art

"Art Cure is forceful and eye-opening. Both elevating and practical, it opens new vistas on fantastic scientific discoveries regarding how art affects our bodies, our minds, and even our lifespan."
--Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, author of Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society

"Imagine a dinner conversation with the smartest, most compassionate person you know, talking until the wee hours on science and beauty, and you will have some idea of what it is like to read this book. Fascinating, comprehensive, compelling, inspiring."
--Dr Christopher Bailey, World Health Organization

"Every day we are overwhelmed by advice on how to live better: diets, gadgets, supplements, exercises and a million other things. Daisy's book is an amazing antidote to the deluge of nonsense. Her evidenced based advice is for joyful, meaningful things that will expand our lives and our minds and help us take charge of our health. Everyone should read this book: it is accessible, entertaining but also a great piece of scholarship."
--Xand van Tulleken, doctor and BAFTA award winning TV presenter

"This brilliant book is a turning point. For the first time, we have a clear, passionate and scientific explanation of how and why the arts are vital to our health and wellbeing. It needs to be in the hands of every policy maker and politician, because it is a powerful argument for generous arts funding to ensure every community across the country benefits."
--Madeleine Bunting, award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor and columnist for The Guardian

"What is most valuable about Dr. Fancourt's writing is that she backs up what all artists know to be true -- that art is the cure -- with deep, verifiable science. Best of all, she does it in the language of a gifted storyteller. Over and over she makes the science seductive and reminds us that that the arts can touch every aspect of what we long for: to live longer, to feel more connected, to cure disease, to ease pain, even to be sexier. This is essential reading for artists and administrators alike."
--Eric Whitacre, Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor

"Daisy Fancourt's fantastic new book, Art Cure, is a visionary exploration of the health impacts of artistic engagement. Weaving together science and real-world case studies, she reminds us of the human need for creative expression. Reading this compelling work, don't be surprised if you find yourself dusting off your old guitar, joining a local theatre group, or ordering a set of watercolors (and thanking Art Cure for the motivation!)."
--Renée Fleming, Soprano and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Arts & Health

"Even for those of us who have had a lifetime engagement with the arts, this rigorously researched, scientifically informed book is a revelation. It offers hard evidence of the value of participation in the arts for everyone, moving outwards from the transformative effect they can have on physical and mental health into a host of associated benefits improving and enriching our daily lives, as well as offering practical solutions, pathways and case studies. It could not be more timely, nor make a stronger, more urgent case for placing the arts at the centre of our communities."
--Melvyn Bragg, English broadcaster, author, and parliamentarian

"In her debut book, award-winning psychologist and epidemiologist Fancourt makes a strong case for the significance of the arts--"the forgotten fifth pillar of health"--in every aspect of well-being...An inspiring book that's based on persuasive science."
--Kirkus Reviews

"The value of the arts to the health and wellbeing of the nation has been undervalued and overlooked for too long. Daisy Fancourt's book makes it clear they are inseparable."
--Angela Rippon, broadcaster and journalist

"We all know the assignment: eat right, get enough sleep, exercise, and enjoy nature. In Art Cure, Dr. Daisy Fancourt reveals a 5th pillar of good health--the ARTS! Through compelling stories backed by rigorous research, she shows how the arts make us healthier emotionally, physically, and spiritually. She then guides us in building our own habit of active arts engagement--something from which everyone can benefit. I dare you to read Art Cure and not want to sing in a choir, pen a poem, or pick up a paintbrush. Fancourt has dispelled the myth that the arts are a luxury; they are the prescription for a healthier, more meaningful life."
--Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research, Americans for the Arts

"A book for our times. Art Cure is a compelling reminder that the arts are not luxuries, but powerful tools for our health. Fancourt elegantly distills the evidence for what we have always intuitively felt; that music, literature, cinema, and art are powerful universal remedies. Best of all, she shows us how to utilize the arts to make simple, health-enhancing changes in our own lives. A glorious read."
--Gillian Anderson, actress and a Global Healing Arts Ambassador

"Art Cure argues that engaging with the arts isn't a nice-to-have--it's a measurable health intervention. Daisy Fancourt draws on decades of research, including many of her own studies, showing that music, visual art, dance, and performance can reduce stress and depression, strengthen memory, and support brain health--whether you're creating the art yourself or simply bearing witness to it. Along the way, she offers practical ways to bring the arts into everyday life, not just for pleasure, but also for well-being."
--Oprah Daily

"In Art Cure, Fancourt makes a compelling case that the arts should be part of the solution to improving human health and well-being. Her approach is highly multidisciplinary, crossing boundaries and providing a holistic approach to improving quality of life at the population level."
--Science Magazine

"Inspiring [...] Art Cure shines a light on how and why we need the arts."
--Bookpage