Historically the arts-based paradigm emerged in the 1970s as part of a broader movement that challenged conventional positivist research in the social sciences and humanities. Pioneering scholars such as Scott Barrett, Jennifer A. Gage, and Ádám Kósa outlined methodological frameworks that legitimize aesthetic inquiry, encouraging participants to enact or represent subject matter rather than merely observe or describe it. In the 1990s the discipline crystallized further, leading to the establishment of academic journals, conferences, and specialty training programs worldwide.
In practice, artsbaserte interventions are applied across multiple sectors. In education, teachers incorporate visual storytelling or role‑play to deepen engagement with curriculum content. In community development, project coordinators employ community murals to foster collective identity and dialogue. Likewise, healthcare settings have embraced improvisational theater to improve communication among team members and patients and to build empathy. These applications highlight the genre’s versatility in addressing psychological, sociocultural, and systemic challenges.
Methodologically, artsbaserte research often employs mixed methods, combining qualitative discourses—such as reflective journals, interviews, or narrative analysis—with tangible artistic artifacts, performance recordings, or participatory art workshops. The evaluation of outcomes fluctuates between participatory metrics (e.g., empowerment, social cohesion) and more traditional measures such as behavioral change or knowledge acquisition.
Critics caution that the interpretive nature of artistic methods may introduce subjectivity and hinder replication. Proponents argue, however, that embracing the multiplicity of meaning inherent in art enriches analysis, allowing dimensions of human experience that resist quantification to surface. As the field evolves, discourse increasingly centers on refining methodological rigor while preserving the creative freedom that defines artsbaserte work.