Pictured above: The Museum’s new self-guided tours allow visitors to form an emotional perspective on displayed pieces.
Courtesy of MFA
By Candice Lovelace
The Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg (MFA) recently launched self-guided Mood Tours as part of its Picture of Health program.
According to the MFA, the Mood Tours are “designed to facilitate viewing art in the Museum’s collection through the lens of emotions they might be experiencing, or striving for, during their visit.”
The tours launched earlier this year and were designed to serve visitors during COVID-19.
“We started thinking about how the museum could serve our community during a pandemic,” said Margaret Murray, Curator of Public Programs at the museum “We began with offering therapy dog sessions for frontline workers, then wanted to expand our programs to everyone in the area.”
Studies show a clear link between viewing art and decreases in the stress hormone, cortisol, as well as normalizing heart rate patterns.
According to the National Library of Medicine (NLB), “Engagement with creative activities has the potential to contribute toward reducing stress and depression and can serve as a vehicle for alleviating the burden of chronic disease.”
Based on research on the intersection between art and healing, visual arts therapy was one of the four primary types used: music engagement, visual arts therapy, movement-based creative expression and expressive writing.
“In these forms of expression, arts modalities and creative processes are used during intentional interventions to foster health,” NLB said.
The Picture of Health program promotes wellness among museum visitors and is the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay area. The program includes Mood Tours, Sit, Stay, Heal, and Museum on Prescription.
The Mood Tours are self-guided and come with art therapy activities to complete while on the tour.
Currently, six Mood Tours are offered: joy/celebration, grief/resilience, empowerment, calm, self-reflection and relationships.
Only two other museums in the U.S. have a similar program: the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Lowe Art Museum in Miami.
To learn more about the Picture of Health program or Mood Tours visit MFAStPete.org .
