What we are up to…
Creativity and Parkinson's Disease: Blanca Spee delivers Keynote at the 2025 CoBeNe PhD Academy
Blanca Spee delivered a Keynote at the 2025 CoBeNe PhD Academy about her research into Parkinson's Disease: the worlds fastest growing neurodegenerative disorder. Blanca's research is funded by an FWF #ConnectingMinds grant Unlocking the Muse:Artistic Creativity & Parkinson´s Disease . According to Spee, this project aims to systematically investigate this phenomenon. “We focus on both epidemiology and neuroscience, using these insights to develop healthcare interventions. To achieve this, we collaborate with individuals with Parkinson’s, artists, creative arts therapists, and researchers from diverse fields.” Read her full interview with the UniVie’s CogSci Hub here
Lead Researchers
Spree, Crone, Pelowski
Project Status: Ongoing
Field Trip to Yale: ARTIS Attends APA Div 10 Conference
The conference circuit is part of the PhD’s traveling roadshow—equal parts spectacle, performance, networking, and free snacks. From March 13-15, 2025, ARTIS made the academic pilgrimage from Vienna to New Haven for APA Div. 10’s Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts annual conference.
Our team presented research across all tiers of the conference—Pelowski chaired an individual talks session; Angermair, Kim, and Demmer showcased their work in the poster session, each offering a unique perspective on the broader topic of emotion sharing; and Alvarez and Miller delivered a talk on their Div. 10-funded study. Between sessions, we fueled up on pizza, admired Yale’s rare books collections, explored emerging topics such as malevolent creativity in talks by Haniska Kapoor and Roni Reiter-Palmon, and found ourselves especially inspired by the passion and enthusiasm of early career researchers in the Student Showcase.
The conference was both insightful and a strong representation of our diverse and international field. Enthusiasm for our work continues to grow, reflecting a broader societal interest in arts engagement and its effects on well-being and the individual in society. However, beneath the excitement and academic exchange, the topic of funding loomed large. Conversations frequently turned to the challenges of securing grants, sustaining projects, and navigating the competitive landscape of academic research.
Presenters
Kim, Demmer, Angermair, Miller, Alvarez
Project Status: Complete
The Art of Connection: Investigating the Social and Neural Dynamics of Art Engagement at the Venice Biennale
What happens when art sparks a deeper connection? How do empathic concern, imagination, and emotion sharing shape the way we experience and engage with art? We explored these questions through Anna Jermolaewa’s evocative phone-booth installation at the Austrian Pavilion during the Venice Biennale. Using surveys and mobile neuroimaging, this interdisciplinary research aims to build bridges at the intersection of curatorial practices and neuroscience in the real world.
Lead Researchers
Paula Angermair, Ava Alvarez
Project Status: Ongoing
Being Mortal: Investigating the effects of a mortality salient exhibition on prosociality and general wellbeing using a daily diary.
At ARTIS lab we are interested in investigating how art exhibitions change how we see and interact with the world. We just completed data collection on a project in collaboration with the Dom Museum Wien. The study included looking at experiences within a mortality salient art exhibition - that is, an exhibition designed to raise our thoughts, conceptions and awareness regarding death. Being Mortal provides insight on how this type of art experience influences our behaviour and attitudes towards (i) our selves, (ii) other people and/or (iii) nature. Thank you very much to our project partners.
Lead Researcher
Christina Makri
Project Status: Ongoing