More than 100 delegates from across Scotland gathered in Dumfries & Galloway this week as OutPost Arts hosted a sold-out conference for Healing Arts Scotland 2026, welcoming internationally renowned speakers, artists and public health leaders for a day celebrating the transformative role of arts, culture and creativity in health and wellbeing.
The event highlighted Dumfries & Galloway’s growing role within Scotland’s creative health movement, showcasing the region’s leadership in bringing communities and culture, healthcare, social care, and education sectors together to explore how the arts can improve lives and create healthier places.
Delivered as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global outreach campaign in collaboration with the World Health Organization, Healing Arts Scotland is a biennial national initiative exploring how arts and culture can be embedded within public health and community wellbeing. Developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland and Creative Scotland, the programme is helping to shape the future of creative health across Scotland and beyond.
Hosted by OutPost Arts, the Dumfries & Galloway event brought together artists, healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, educators and community organisations at Easterbrook Hall for a packed conference programme of keynote talks, panel discussions and creative workshops delivered by local creatives Old Mill Arts, Lauren McDaid, Martin Clarkson and youth arts group ‘Creative Toolbox’.
Delegates travelled from across Scotland to share knowledge, build new partnerships and explore innovative approaches to supporting health through creativity. This was followed by a vibrant concert produced by Arts D&G, Paragon Music & Loch Arthur Camphill Community.
A major highlight was the visit of internationally acclaimed artist, educator and community organiser Yazmany Arboleda, who travelled from Brooklyn, New York, to contribute to the national Healing Arts Scotland programme. In Dumfries, he delivered the opening remarks alongside Catherine Cassidy-Dedics, Global Director of Healing Arts and Director of International Engagement at the Jameel Arts & Health Lab. As New York City’s inaugural People’s Artist, Arboleda has led participatory arts projects across five continents with organisations including Carnegie Hall, Yale University and the United Nations, bringing an international perspective to conversations taking place in Dumfries.
The programme also featured leading voices from across Scotland’s creative health sector, including Kat Hill, recently appointed Creative Director of Upland and award-shortlisted author of Bothy; Anne Gallacher, Director of Luminate; and Valerie White, Director of Public Health at NHS Dumfries & Galloway; alongside speakers representing The Stove Network, The Crichton Trust, Arts D&G, Paragon Music, Dumfries Music Collective and NHS Dumfries & Galloway.
One of the day’s defining moments was the presentation of Pathways to Wellbeing, a major new land art commission by Dumfries & Galloway artist Jim Buchanan. Created in partnership with The Crichton Trust and NHS Dumfries & Galloway, the project transforms greenspaces at Mountainhall and The Crichton Estate through a series of large-scale landscape interventions designed to encourage movement, reflection and connection with nature.
At Mountainhall, Buchanan has created a mown labyrinth that invites mindful walking, quiet reflection and playful exploration, while Spiral Orbit creates an eye-catching intervention within The Crichton Estate. Developed through extensive community participation, the project included workshops with pupils from St Michael’s Primary School and participants from Better Lives Partnership Dumfries, demonstrating how creative practice can bring people together while supporting wellbeing in accessible, place-based ways.
Alongside the conference, OutPost Arts also commissioned artist, psychotherapist and meditation teacher Heather Bestel to present Magical Meditations 4 Kids, an imaginative creative wellbeing project combining storytelling, music and mindfulness to support children’s emotional wellbeing. Free resources developed through the project will continue to be available to schools, families and community groups throughout the year, ensuring the impact of Healing Arts Scotland extends well beyond the event itself.
“Healing Arts Scotland has been an extraordinary opportunity to showcase the remarkable work happening across Dumfries & Galloway and to connect with colleagues from across Scotland and internationally. Having represented the region at the national conference in Edinburgh and chaired panel discussions as part of the Glasgow programme, it has been inspiring to see the growing momentum behind creative health across the country.
The fact that our Dumfries & Galloway event sold out demonstrates the appetite for these conversations and the important role creativity can play in supporting healthier communities. We’re excited to build on that momentum and continue strengthening creative health partnerships across our region.”
Healing Arts Scotland was first launched in partnership with Scottish Ballet in 2024 and is guided by a national coalition of organisations spanning culture, healthcare, education and policy. Through a dedicated Healing Arts Scotland Legacy Network, the initiative aims to translate research into practical action, championing creative, asset-based approaches that place prevention, community wellbeing and cultural participation at the centre of healthier futures.
For OutPost Arts, hosting the Dumfries & Galloway programme represents more than the success of a single event. It reflects years of collaboration across the region and a growing belief that creativity is not simply an enhancement to healthcare but an essential part of building healthier, more resilient communities. As partnerships continue to develop and new projects take shape, Dumfries & Galloway is increasingly recognised as a place where creative health is being put into practice and where its future is being actively shaped.