As part of Paintings in Hospitals' 60th anniversary celebrations, we put together an exciting panel to discuss the past pioneers and future innovations of visual arts in health and social care.

The event, Framing the Future, took place at the Royal College of Physicians on 13th May 2019.

Our panel included: Edmund de Waal OBE (artist and author), Dr Errol Francis (CEO of Culture&), Dr Val Huet (CEO of the British Association of Art Therapists), Prof. Victoria Tischler (Professor of Arts and Health at the University of West London) and Ed Vaizey MP (Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing).

The panel

Edmund de Waal OBE

Edmund de Waal is an internationally acclaimed artist and writer. He is renowned for his installations of porcelain vessels, exhibited worldwide. Edmund is also known for his bestselling memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes, which won numerous literary prizes. Both his written and artistic practices have broken new ground through critical engagement with the history and potential of ceramics, architecture and poetry. Edmund is a trustee of the V&A, a Patron of Paintings in Hospitals and, in 2011, was made an OBE for his services to art.

Dr Errol Francis

Dr Errol Francis is CEO of Culture&. He was formerly Joint Programme Lead at the Sainsbury Centre of Mental Health, Senior Associate Coordinator at the Department of Health, and was Inspire Programme Director at Arts Council England. Most recently he was artistic director of Anxiety Arts Festival London and the ‘Acting Out’ Nottingham public engagement programme. Errol is also currently director of the curatorial group PS/Y.

Dr Val Huet

Dr Val Huet is CEO of the British Association of Art Therapists, a role she has held since 2003. She also co-founded the Art Therapy Practice Research Network in 2000. Val has lectured internationally and, between 2004 and 2014, was the Chair of the Claremont Project, an award-winning resource providing arts therapies, arts for health and wellbeing activities to older people. In 2015, Val completed a PhD on art therapy groups for work-related stress.

Professor Victoria Tischler

Prof. Victoria Tischler is Professor of Arts and Health and Head of Dementia Care at the University of West London. She is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Mental Health. Victoria is leading several projects to develop evidence for arts and multisensory approaches in dementia care and she is Executive Editor of the Arts & Health journal. Victoria is also a trustee of Paintings in Hospitals.

Ed Vaizey MP

Ed Vaizey MP was Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries from 2010-2016. He is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing. Ed currently serves as the Member of Parliament for Didcot and Wantage. He is a trustee of two national charities, the National Youth Theatre and BritDoc. Ed is also a member of the House of Commons Speaker’s Advisory Panel on the Arts, Chair of Creative Fuse, and a Patron of Kids in Museums.

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