One Museum Visit a Month Could Help Your Health, Art Fund Report Says
Spending about an hour a month with art in a museum or gallery could improve physical and mental health, according to a new report from the Art Fund, a UK charity that supports museums and galleries. The Art Newspaper reported the findings on 5 November 2026.
The advice is the result of research the charity commissioned with Daisy Fancourt, a professor at University College London (UCL) who studies the health effects of the arts. The report, called "The Recommended Dose of Art: A Prescription for Health and Wellbeing", recommends at least 60 minutes with art in museums and galleries every month.
Most people are not getting there. A survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 89% fall short of the monthly target. The report estimates that works out to 49.5 million people.
The report points to earlier studies that found regular museum and gallery visits could nearly halve the risk of developing depression over the following decade. Other studies it cites linked cultural activity with a lower risk of dementia and less loneliness. Separate Art Fund evidence found that adults aged 50 and over who visit museums every few months have up to a 32% lower risk of developing depression.
The report also compared two kinds of art. Viewing original works in galleries was associated with a 22% greater reduction in cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, than viewing reproductions.
The charity's director, Jenny Waldman, used the report to call for steady, long-term public investment in museums. She said that funding would let museums look after their collections and welcome visitors.
That call comes as the sector faces money pressures. In the Art Fund's 2026 Museum Directors Research, which surveyed 329 museum directors, 36% of museums said they had cut opening hours because of insufficient funding and staffing. The same research found more optimism across the sector than the charity has recorded before.
For a reader, the target is simple to picture: one visit, roughly an hour, each month. It could be a local gallery at lunchtime or a museum on a weekend trip, and it does not have to be a major exhibition.
