Art Adventures
Would you like to experience how art can have a positive impact on your emotions, enhance your wellbeing and serve as an invitation to meaningful conversations? As you can imagine, art also has the power to invite people from different cultures to share stories to trigger curiosity and enhance understanding. Over the years, I’ve developed different formats that all use the same principle: art as a safe third space where people can explore identity and culture, and foster wellbeing and flourishing.
You are welcome to join one of the following events:
- Art Adventures at museums
- Vis-a-vis Art Adventures Online
- Story Art Café – event on demand, tailored to your group and your context.
Art Adventures at Museums
Art can be a remedy for many challenges and experiencing it together enhances our perception and enriches our understanding of how it can have a positive impact.
Research has proven that engagement with fine arts can reduce symptoms of anxiety, ease pain, help people heal from traumatic events and enhance relationship building. (Fancourt, D., & Finn, S., What Is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-Being? A Scoping Review, World Health Organization, 2019opens in new window).
In the intercultural context, art functions as:
- a third space in which every perspective is unique and welcomed. There is no “right” or “wrong”, just the opportunity to experience different emotions as everyone can take something different from the looking at art.
- a magic wand because magic happens when we stop judging and criticizing and start describing and appreciating what we see. We immediately pay more attention to details and practice mindfulness by being here and now.
- an invitation to listen to different interpretations.
By contemplating art and discussing it afterwords with some guidance, we enhance our intercultural competences as we:
- Practice perspective change,
- Learn to describe before interpreting,
- Accept different perspectives,
- Yearn meaning and hence encounter artworks with curiosity,
This “playful” way of encountering art invites extraordinary observations and meaningful conversations.
Research confirms that experiencing art together leads to greater wellbeing and more connectedness than just looking at art without any exchange possibilities (Igdalova, A., Nawaz, S., & Chamberlain, R. (2025). A view worth talking about: The influence of social interaction on aesthetic experience and well-being outcomes in the gallery. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication). https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000733
Art Adventures So Far
Matisse Museum in Nice “Positive Leadership” 2025
Kunsthistorisches Museum Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna “Perception of time and change” 2025
Picasso Museum in Antibes 2025
Maegt Foundation in Saint Paul de Vince „Flourishing across cultures“ 2025
Venice Art Biennale „Voices of Diversity“ 2024
Musée d’Orsay “Bold colors of diversity” 2024
Lille Museum of Fine Arts “Women in arts” 2024
Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris “Bold colors of diversity & inclusion 2024
Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo „Cross-cultural influences“ at the “Monet Exhibition” 2023
Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna “Intercultural Dialog inspired by Bruegel” 2020
Vis-à-vis Art Adventures Online
The visual turn in the 21st century and the current accelerated digitalization of the globalized world lead to new formats and new ways of collaborative learning and working in the virtual and hybrid spaces.
Hence, the rising use of visual arts paired with storytelling activities in adult learning in the organizational development context lay at the ground of the #vis-a-vis series – VISUAL INTERCULTURAL STORYTELLING APPROACH IN THE VIRTUAL INTERACTIVE SESSIONS.
Every vis-a-vis art adventure is a learning journey combining art, storytelling and cross-cultural coaching. Why this combination?
Art
Because art takes us to the field where “not knowing” is reality. It invites to expand our understanding and our comfort zone and triggers our curiosity. All the skills which play such an important role in living and working across cultures. We relate to art at a deeper level, with all our senses, and with emotions it evokes, as much as the willingness to be in the creative space for a longer time. As much as exploration of beauty freezes time as much being surrounded of art has got a positive impact on our wellbeing. And wellbeing and flourishing are at the base of the readiness to thrive across differences.
Storytelling
Because sharing stories, telling them listening to them takes us to the place of entering the new worlds, seeing different events from various perspectives and co-creating stories for a better future
Cross-cultural Coaching
Because cross-cultural coaching serves deeper understanding of own cultural influences that have an impact on our thinking and acting patterns. It also allows us to reframe the world of obviousness and see things from different cultural points of view. Last but not least it supports, self-development and prepares for better thriving in the intercultural complex world.
This Is How It Works
Step 1
CURIOSITY & INSPIRATION
Art is less an object and more a process of exploration. Hence it triggers curiosity and inspires. Sharing stories triggers curiosity and inspires as well. The combination of both serves here as a tool to reflect on the own worlds of obviousness and as an invitation to a vivid exchange. The essence of the chosen pieces of art triggers further curiosity and forms the basis of experiential learning.
This step is focused on the invitation to enter the journey with a growth mindset – with curiosity and willingness to get inspired by art and by own creativity activity to be able to inspire and get inspired by other co-travelers.
Step 2
CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
Just like in real life, after visits to an art institution, museum, artistic space or gallery, we mostly talk about what surprised, enchanted, provoked and even shocked us. In the vis-à-vis art adventures, we can share our impressions in the circles. The following sharing of stories is a creative process which not only serves the purpose of a vivid exchange of experiences but also leads to the emergence of innovative ideas.
Inspired by pieces of art and conversations, it opens new possibilities for meaning making and re-framing or even re-authoring the surroundings and own stories.
Step 3
COACHING & INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT
The last part of the common journey is devoted to your individual development. Thanks to coaching questions, you are going to self-reflect and exchange with others on how you can apply visual intercultural storytelling activities in your work and what you can shape with them. Last, but not least, it leads to ideas how we can make learning by lighter, more creative and inspirational.
What Clients Say About The Vis-à-vis Art Adventures
„I loved it!” Why?
1. The subject was presented visually and it immediately addressed my emotions.
2. Connecting the four types of stories to the paintings made it easy to remember them and to discuss the power of these narratives in groups
3. The flow of the session was something I really liked and connecting with other participants was really cool.
It’s incredible how paintings help to reflect and focus the conversation and evoke emotions. As for me, I am definitely going to change some of my narratives.”
What a wonderful treat (and also a shake to my brain!) to get a fresh perspective on how our dominant narratives are both shaping and being shaped by the images we consume. As we become an even more image-addicted culture it is good to keep raising my awareness about what I think “ordinary reality” looks like and to keep asking myself: “from whose perspective?”. I really enjoyed this fusion of art, story and conversation. Well done, Joanna
A powerful session for me as we were asked to bring crayons. I was always self-conscious as a little girl about which crayon to use when drawing my family and showcase our beautiful shades of “black”. We are so diverse. So I used “un crayon” (pencil/black) and we were all the same. The color was in the smiles, the sun, and the beautiful trees I drew and that meant life to me. Later, I found myself adding orange, blue, red as skin color to reflect energy more than skin color. Bravo Joanna for bringing this crucial angle, perspective to diversity.
I really appreciated the experience of Skin color – an anti-racism event on art, storytelling and re-narrating. It was personally rewarding and the people in my break-out group were amazing. I look forward to learning more about your work and from you.
Story Art Café
Story Art Café is a facilitated event focused on playing specially designed cards “Positive Leadership Cards” combining artworks from around the globe with coaching questions and invitations to share stories.
The aim is to focus on positive emotions, on experiencing flow, on building relationships and on deepening intercultural understanding.
In the first step the participants choose artworks and share how they relate to them, what attracted their attention and how they see the importance of the chosen piece of art in the specific season of their lives. Then they share stories and answer questions on the reverse side of the cards.
The debrief is a delight every single time.
What Clients Say About Using The Cards
The artworks on the cards were carefully chosen to be inclusive of many different cultures and experiences, making the experience feel accessible to people worldwide.
Wonderful artworks and inspiring questions – open up great conversations. My most important take away: Using art can serve to tell meaningful stories.
I think that the cards and the discussion surrounding them were very effective and I would use them in my work as a positive psychology practitioner.
Playing the cards highlighted how, regardless of our backgrounds, we’re all more alike than we are different.
The experience of playing the cards was absolutely fascinating and enlightening. My personal take away: Art is an essential part of life and vital to living it well.
Joanna’s workshop gave me some good ideas for ways to incorporate art into my own workshops. Joanna is an adept workshop leader, guiding and encouraging and giving participants enough space to explore their own ideas in equal measure.
There was something powerful about choosing a card without knowing why —being drawn to an image intuitively — and then using that as a starting point for reflection. It created a safe and open space to share, which made it easier to explore vulnerability and stay present in the moment.
With my knowledge of PERMAV model, I instantly felt connected to Joanna’s work. She is an excellent presenter. Believing in the subject matter you present and delivering the information with warmth and kindness is a beautiful gift.
