Congress of Arts and Health Initiatives

From July 24 to 26, 2025, as part of Healing Arts Lviv, a Congress brought together around 50 professionals working at the intersection of art and health. Among the participants were representatives of state and international institutions, medical, educational, and cultural sectors, as well as artists, psychologists, military personnel, and veterans.

The aim of the Congress was to strengthen professional networks, map existing practices, and explore ways to integrate art into Ukraine’s healthcare system.

Program

Over three days, participants discussed art as a tool for recovery, reviewed current initiatives, and shared experiences. In group sessions, they identified the sector’s key challenges — including limited recognition of art within medicine, lack of state certification for art therapists, concentration of practices in major cities, shortage of resources, and insufficient cross-sector communication.

At the same time, the discussions highlighted significant opportunities: engaging artists in rehabilitation centers, creating mental health hubs in large cities, involving cultural institutions in work with vulnerable groups, expanding the role of volunteer and civic organizations, and growing support from charitable foundations for psycho-emotional care projects.

The Congress concluded with proposals for further integration of art into healthcare. An analytical brief summarizing the main outcomes will be shared soon.

Results

During group work, participants jointly identified the core values that unite professionals in the field of trauma-informed art. Among them are mutual respect, care, love for others, solidarity, gratitude, openness, honesty, vulnerability, dignity, staying true to oneself, and sincerity. When speaking about the community and interaction within it, congress participants emphasized the importance of live communication, curiosity, trust, and the opportunity to learn, open up, inspire, and be inspired by others.

Participants also outlined the key challenges and needs of the art and health sector in Ukraine. These include an outdated institutional system, a lack of flexible approaches, unequal access, the absence of common protocols, and mistrust of art within the medical community. In education, there is a shortage of trained professionals and certified programs. Financial challenges include low funding for culture, a lack of resources, and limited access to safe spaces. On the cultural level, challenges relate to social passivity, discriminatory practices (ageism, sexism, nepotism), and the marginalization of art. Difficulties in communication between sectors and the lack of sustainable cooperation were also noted. The war further amplifies these issues, leading to trauma, emotional burnout, and the need for recovery and adaptation among both those affected by the war and the professionals who work with them.

Despite these challenges, there are many opportunities.

For example:

• engaging artists in rehabilitation centers;
• establishing mental health centers in major cities;
• involving cultural institutions in work with vulnerable groups;
• willingness of charitable foundations to support psycho-emotional support projects;
• active engagement of civic and volunteer organizations in this field;
• the emergence of educational programs in higher education institutions;
• opportunities to learn from international experience;
• the availability of research and successful case studies;
• the beginning of policy and professional protocol development.

On the final day of the congress, participants worked on developing proposals for integrating art into Ukraine’s healthcare system. Identifying the sector’s main challenges, available resources, needs, first steps, and expected outcomes, they created several roadmaps for strengthening the role of art in healthcare.

The need for state certification of art therapists was emphasized, as well as introducing mechanisms for quality regulation, developing educational standards, supervision, and ethical norms. It was proposed to create a legislative framework adapted to the Ukrainian context and ensure systematic research on the effectiveness of art practices in healthcare.

One of the key directions identified was the formation of a professional community, with special attention to transforming professional culture — from the idea of “resilience” to recognizing vulnerability and developing collective recovery practices.

Overall, the proposed steps aim to build a sustainable ecosystem of art and health in Ukraine — with the official recognition of art therapy, a strong professional community, systemic education, a culture of care, and effective cross-sectoral cooperation.

Congress of Arts and Health Initiatives is part of Healing Arts Lviv, a project that took place from July 20 to 27, 2025, in Lviv. It brought together artists, educators, healthcare and social workers, as well as representatives of government and international organizations to explore art as a tool for healing.

The project was implemented by the NGO Art Dot in cooperation with the Lviv City Council, King’s College London, Unbroken Art, the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, and the WHO. It was supported by an organizational development grant from the Ukrainian NGO Fund of the National Network for Local Philanthropy Development, as well as by the Disasters Emergency Committee and the Start Network.