Collage by Emily Larsen.

Concerned with your health in 2026? Recent research shows the arts can be just as powerful as going to the gym in improving your health and well-being. Consider ditching the dumbbells for your New Year’s resolution this year and adopting one of these three arts-related goals instead:

Resolution #1: Visit an Art Museum or Gallery Weekly 

A recent study by King’s College in London found that viewing original art in a gallery setting resulted in a 22% drop in cortisol (the body’s main stress hormone) and around a 30% drop in inflammatory markers. As one of the study’s lead researchers, Dr. Tony Woods summed it up: “Viewing art in a gallery is good for you.” He explains: “Art doesn’t just move us emotionally—it calms the body too.”

Lucky for readers of 15Bytes, there are more than 100 places in Utah to view artwork made by thousands of artists, from Logan to St. George and everywhere in between. Importantly, the research shows the benefits come from original art—reproductions don’t count. Choose a different gallery, museum, or art center each week, and call it your new cultural workout.

Resolution #2: Start an Art Social Club or Ritual 

Loneliness is a worldwide health epidemic, and Utah’s own researcher Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad has shown that lacking social connection is as dangerous to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. To combat this, doctors have started “social prescribing” regular visits and outings to arts organizations and performances. During these visits, people form connections by regularly going to places where they interact with others.  If it’s the same place, at the same time, with some of the same people—that’s even better for building community.

So, in 2026 make it a habit to start an art club or ritual. You could take inspiration from Aimee Odum’s Artist Run Club SLC, which meets every Wednesday morning to run a 5K and check out a different art show in the SLC area; or from my friend Brittany Jepsen of The House that Lars Built who last year bought season tickets to the Utah Symphony and invited a different friend to join her at each performance. A few friends and I just started our own informal “Nancy Holt Art Club” and want to visit all the major land art pieces within driving distance of Salt Lake City.

You could also choose a city’s gallery stroll night, or an arts organization that you love, and commit to showing up to all their events in 2026. If you join as a member at most of Utah’s major arts organizations you get invited to exclusive events where many of the same people join you each time. The key is to go out, in-person, and interact with people while you’re there!

Artist Run Club SLC in front of Caro Nilsson’s mural “The Seabirds Greeted the Moon” in Salt Lake City.

Resolution #3: Create Art Regularly—Even if It’s Bad 

It’s also very good for your health to create art—any kind of art, including visual, performing, or literary—even if it’s not very good.  In their recent book, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen look at the ways creating and experiencing art improves our well-being. About creating your own art, they write, “when the arts become a regular practice—the way you might improve nutrition, increase exercise, and prioritize sleep—you unleash an innate tool that helps you navigate the peaks and valleys of your inner life. And the best news is that you don’t have to be great, or even good, at making art to experience the benefits.”

Ross and Magsamen point to multiple studies to show that creating art lowers stress, enhances immune function, increases cardiovascular reactivity, and improves our ability to regulate emotions and cope with challenges. They also cite a 2020 study finding that, across socioeconomic levels, “people who engaged in the arts were found to have lower mental distress, better mental functioning, and improved quality of life.”

For Your Health—Embrace the Arts 

So as you make your goals for 2026, don’t forget the arts. They have the power to lower stress, support mental health, foster social connection, and increase overall well-being and life satisfaction.

And at least for me, visiting the symphony, theater, or museum sounds a lot more appealing than hitting the gym. You can feel just as good about a trip to the museum as you can about doing a burpee—and that’s something we can all get behind in 2026.

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Collage by Emily Larsen.

P.S. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how the arts can improve your life. If you’re interested in learning more about the connection between arts and health check out some of the people, organizations, and resources below:

• Alyson Meier’s Arts in Health Blog and Website

• Social Connection in America Study

• NOAH – National Organization for Arts in Health

• International Arts & Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University

• Foundation for Art & Healing

Emily Larsen

Emily Larsen is a Utah-based curator, arts administrator, historian, and artist. She currently works as the Director of the Springville Museum of Art, where she has worked in a variety of positions since 2014. Her research and writing focuses on the Utah art scene c1880-1950. She is passionate about Utah’s art and cultural history and loves working with local Utah artists.