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Art therapy makes up a significant component of acute psychiatric care. In crisis situations, in which language-based interventions reach their limits, creative processes provide alternative avenues for affect regulation, the establishment of therapeutic relationships, and overall stabilization. The open studio, with its long-standing tradition in therapeutic contexts, offers a forward-looking framework: It is process-oriented, easily accessible, and fosters autonomy as well as social integration amid existential crises. Presently, however, it faces the challenge of maintaining its relevance within (current) institutional conditions such as shorter lengths of stay and an increasing demand for evidence-based short-term interventions. As part of the restructuring of art therapy at the Psychiatric Services Aargau (PDAG), an open studio designed specifically for acute wards was developed, which is to be implemented in newly conceptualized facilities in 2026. It integrates art-therapeutic quality standards, an interdisciplinary treatment approach and enables flexible, patient-centered support. The practical implementation is being embedded in a qualitative research project that follows a mixed-methods design with arts-based and participatory elements. Systematic observations, artistic-reflective documentation, open interviews, and the analysis of visual and verbal material form the methodological foundation. A situated and relational perspective is central to capture the active factors of the open studio on expressive, symbolic, material, social, and clinical levels. Finally, the research project will be made visible and institutional cooperation initiated. The aim is to analyze key active factors and understand their significance in the clinical context. In doing so, the evidence base of art-therapeutic practice is to be strengthened and its visibility in acute psychiatric care increased.