The Arts in Health Summer School introduces students to how creative practices can support wellbeing and encourage healthy living. The week-long school offers lecture-discussions and workshops introducing the theory and practice of Arts in Health, and hands-on workshops in the methods and strategies of professional Arts in Health practice.
“The Summer School brings together a diverse group of people, to build a common understanding of how arts is health works,” says Ferdinand Lewis, director of education for Arts in Health Groningen (AiHG). “They leave the School as a community of learners, ready to explore how they might want to contribute to the field.”
The Summer School is designed for people at different points in their careers, and is open to mid-career graduates of MBO, HBO, and universities, as well as current students. “Establishing a permanent place for the arts in our healthcare system will require professionals who can work across sectors, disciplines and traditional roles,” Lewis adds.
The Summer School introduces students to the scientific research on how the arts can support prevention and recovery, and encourage healthy lifestyles. The curriculum includes an innovative pedagogy that integrates theory with the direct experience of practice, in a workshop setting. “Students are immersed in the practice of arts in health right away,” Lewis explains, “while they are also learning the science and theory that explains the field. They follow up on those experiences with structured reflection, to integrate experiences into new knowledge”.
One 2025 graduate reported, “For me it was about getting to know what is out there in the field.” Another said that the Summer School helped her decide how she wants to work in the field and organise her own programmes.
Summer School instructors include Arts in Health professionals from Switch2Move, Cordaan, CliniClowns, the creative arts therapies program at NHL Stenden, MuzIC, and the Groninger Museum. Lecture-discussions are led by scholars from University Medical Centre Groningen, together with the master’s of spiritual care program at the University of Groningen, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Those who complete the School can receive an official ‘digital credential’ from the University of Groningen to use on CV’s. Graduates also have the opportunity to join the Arts in Health Learning Community which is especially for former Summer School graduates. The Learning Community meets four times per year to share knowledge, discuss current issues, and build a network across the Netherlands and EU.
Development of the Summer School
The Summer School was first piloted in June of 2023. AiHG’s program director Kirsten Krans said, “We made 15 spaces available for students, and all of them were filled right away. So many people want to learn how the arts can support care in hospitals, long-term care, and in our communities!” In 2024, the Summer School was awarded support from the University of Groningen, and officially listed in the University’s portfolio of summer school courses.
Enrollment is capped at 25 students, for which the Summer School regularly receives more than twice that number of applications. Students include visual and performing artists, doctors, nurses, social workers, university research and teaching staff, cultural managers and program makers, undergraduates students, administrators, and policy makers. Lewis says, “In the Netherlands and EU, the Arts in Health field needs people from a variety of backgrounds, all learning and working together. The Summer School was created to facilitate that”.
The Summer School’s organisational partners include the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health; University College Groningen; the Faculty of Religion, Culture & Society at the University of Groningen; and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Learn more about the Arts in Health Summer School and how to apply.