Outreach Projects

Paintings in Hospitals constantly works in partnership with museums and artist collectives to deliver community projects and organise special exhibitions in the healthcare environment.

Young Curators with Tate

Between 2009 and 2011, Paintings in Hospitals developed a new loan scheme adapted to the needs of younger patients. More specifically, the charity was keen to broaden the scope of the scheme to support adolescents. Adolescents can feel isolated in healthcare environments, which are often better suited to small children or adults.

A grant was awarded by Arts Council to develop this scheme collaboratively with young people. The charity worked with Tate Youth Forum and recruited a panel that helped develop collecting guidelines for the new loan scheme and commission artworks. Throughout the project, the panel selected a series of animations from the Animate Projects library and commissioned three drawings by professional doodler Jon Burgerman.

Collaborating with young people has given great strength to the Children and Young People Loan Scheme, which has already enabled 15 healthcare facilities across the UK to create more comforting and engaging environments. We estimate that 15,000 young people will benefit from the artworks borrowed through the scheme in 2012.

V&A exhibitions

Paintings in Hospitals has developed a working relationship with the Victoria & Albert Museum as part of its mission to provide access to high quality artworks for the healthcare community.

The charity has worked with curators from the V&A Prints Department to co-curate exhibitions in London-based hospitals. Each exhibition has helped the museum to reach out to new audiences and enabed patients, visitors and staff experience museum-standard art outside the traditional gallery environment.

The last exhibition ‘Contemporary Women Printmakers: exploring the female condition’, took place between January and May 2010 at the maternity unit in St George’s Hospital. Comments collected at the end of the exhibition and interviews with members of staff highlighted that the project had the following outcomes:

• The maternity unit felt more homely
• The artworks displayed acted as a diversion therapy for the women in labour
• The exhibition stimulated conversations and improved communication between members of staff and with patients
• Staff and patients alike felt privileged to have artworks from such a prestigious art institution displayed in their local environment

Crouch End Studios

In 2010, Paintings in Hospitals worked with artists from Crouch End Studios to place artworks by the group’s members at the Hornsey Central Neighbourhood Health Centre, following the opening of the new facility.

The charity’s curator selected 10 works by artists Helen Linton, Sue Williams A’Court, Lara Harwood, Richard Peacock, Sanne Tang, Maureen Harrison, Ahmed Farooqui, Lucy Pashley and Kim Valdez; all of which are now part of our collection.

The display was extremely well received by the patients and staff and helped strengthen links between the artists and the community.