How creativity helps us thrive

Today sees the opening of a new exhibition at the Museum of Croydon called ‘Creative Health’, which explores how we use arts, culture and creativity to support our health and wellbeing. Of course, us humans have been using art to support healing and connectedness from the dawn of time (think cave paintings), but it’s only in more recent history that the positive impact creativity can have on both our mental and physical health has been scientifically documented.

In case you don’t know, Croydon has a Creative Health team, which has been working with arts, cultural and community groups around the borough since 2024, supporting them with networking, training, resources, funding and more to help the sector flourish.

Yesterday I popped along to the preview of the exhibition which, at its core, brings together case studies from 14 community groups across the borough. The case studies are broadly arranged around seven Creative Health themes – young people, music, drama, dance, dementia, visual art and outdoors – introducing visitors to the benefits these creative activities can have on people’s wellbeing.

With my graphic designer hat on, I had the pleasure of working with programme manager and exhibition curator Lisa Rodio and the Creative Health team to bring the exhibition to life. Together we sought to cohesively unite the diverse creative activities delivered by the community groups – from pottery and painting to mosaics and music – while allowing participants’ artworks to shine. Yesterday it was lovely to experience the community groups enjoying the space and seeing their work exhibited together for the first time.

There are some interactive elements for visitors to enjoy too – from trying your hand at weaving to adding your thoughts to a rainbow to ‘find calm in the storm’. My hope is that the exhibition will leave visitors feeling inspired by the huge amount of creativity on show.

If you are looking for a bit of joy this summer, I thoroughly recommend a visit.