With rising need for mental health services in educational contexts, services are stretched and struggling to keep pace. While much of the focus is on intervention and mental illness, there is also opportunity for prevention and promotion efforts in the day-to-day activities of students. This study investigated the effects of embedding art-based meditations and reflections into post-secondary courses, with a specific interest on the impact it made to student well-being. Preliminary findings will be shared in conjunction with an explanation of the research-informed, evidence-based processes used to provide experiential learning through art and building mental health capacity.

This presentation is situated at the intersection of art, brain, and mind (Gardner, 2008), drawing on research from arts education (Edwards, 1998) neuroscience (Lazar et al, 2000; Dietrich & Kanso, 2010; Sperry 1969), and psychology (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). It shares the effects of a classroom intervention for mental health promotion and education designed around art-based processes that trigger shifts in mental states, away from negative states (Curry & Kasser, 2005; Drake et al., 2014) towards positive states ( Csikszentmihalyi, 2014; Dietrich & Kanso, 2010) and foster skills in self-regulation (Martin & Colp, 2022).

Preliminary findings will be shared from a study that employed a quasi-experimental, one-way within-and-between subjects design (pre and post surveys), including the effects on student mental health capacity and well-being. As a transdisciplinary study, the presentation is framed through the lens of providing evidence on art-based activities that promote mental health (Haeyen & Hinz, 2020; Kimport & Robbins, 2012; Martin & Colp, 2022) and will be of interest to mental health service providers. Through stories, video, and slides we provide a theoretical explanation of the research that informed the intervention, findings from different learning contexts (in-person and on-line delivery), and recommendations for practice.

3 Learning Objectives: Participants in this presentation will be able to:
- Understand the relationship between art, brain, and mind through a research-informed theoretical lens of arts education, neuroscience, and psychology.
- Learn about the effects of embedded art-based meditation and reflection in post-secondary courses including recent psychometric findings on impact to mental health capacity and student well-being.
- Consider recommendations for practice including ways to employ art-based meditation within educational programming.

Keywords: Mental health, Education, Art-Based Pedagogy, Well-being.