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Experiencing Art: Katherine Cotter episode artwork

Jul 23, 2026 32 min

Experiencing Art: Katherine Cotter

from Incredible Mind Hosted by Michelle Cross Smith

Art is a widely accessible mood-booster, if we take the time to really look and reflect on an artist’s work. In this episode of Incredible Mind, Katherine Cotter, Associate Director of Research at the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project at U Penn’s Positive Psychology Center, explains what happens in our brains when we look at art, what is meant by everyday creativity, and how experiencing art contributes to our sense of well being. Episode Guide: 0:00 Intro 1:22 Defining Positive Psychology 3:03 Katherine’s Journey to Research 4:14 Democratization of creativity 6:45 Art and the Brain 9:24 The ways people experience art today 11:19 Making a case for museums 15:39 What is flourishing? 18:03 Public Art and well-being 22:55 Social prescriptions for art (loneliness, dementia and more) 26:34-29:11 Everyday Creativity and aesthetics 29:12 Creativity is for everyone 30:24 Getting kids to enjoy museums 31:55 Conclusion

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Experiencing Art: Katherine Cotter

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