Healthcare Design - September 2016 - 20

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RTWORK PROGRAMS HAVE come a long way toward be-

ing recognized as a vital part of a warm and inviting
healthcare setting that promotes healing. However,
appropriate safety concerns have left some facilities in this sector lagging behind. London artist Tim
A. Shaw and curator Niamh White saw this firsthand
while visiting a friend in a mental health unit. "We
were struck by how cold and clinical the healthcare
environment was," Shaw says. "The artwork on the unit didn't do much
to change the atmosphere or suit the space or its audience. If someone is
mentally and physically unwell, it seems common sense that the right environment to live and recover in is vitally important."
In response, the artistic duo founded Hospital Rooms, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve environmental conditions in mental health
hospitals by inviting artists to create installation-based artworks. For its
first project last winter, the organization partnered with Phoenix Ward, a
secure residential psychiatric rehabilitation unit at Springfield University
Hospital (South London) for people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Using
their connections in the art scene, Shaw and White approached artists and
designers whom they knew would be thoughtful about the space and the
audience, and who would see the inherent restrictions, such as no ligature
points or sharp edges, as an exciting challenge.

A B OV E : Photographers
Mark Power and Jo Coles
took photographs of trees
and objects found during
walks within a one-mile
radius of the hospital and
then made them into a
grid that was printed on
wall mural paper and
hung like wallpaper in
the relatives' room. L E FT:
Artist Tim A. Shaw brightened up the dining room
by painting the walls in
bright shades. He added
colored shapes that are
meant to serve as borders
to display residents'
artwork created during
workshops.

For several months, Hospital Rooms held meetings with the artists and
the hospital staff to discuss spaces on the unit where artwork could be incorporated, appropriate imagery and subjects, and safe materials, including nontoxic paints that could wipe clean and print media that could be
installed without framing. They also talked with patients to find out what
they thought would be more interesting and stimulating to see. In April,
11 artists began installing 10 permanent works in the ward, wrapping up
in June. Local suppliers donated materials, including professional acrylic
paints and printing services, to the program, which was supported with
funding by Arts Council England and the Morris Markowe BETWEEN APRIL AND JUNE, 11
League of Friends of SpringARTISTS INSTALLED 10 PERMANENT
field University Hospital.
S h a w sa y s m a ny o f t h e WORKS IN THE WARD. LOCAL
works were inspired by the
SUPPLIERS DONATED MATERIALS.

SEPTEMBER 2016

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

artists' visits to the ward. For example, Aimee
Parrott focused on giving the women's lounge
a more domestic touch by painting a large mural directly onto the main wall, adding a more
soothing color to the other walls, buying plants
for the room, and making new curtains. Michael O'Reilly spent three weeks painting a
warm yellow "wallpaper" on the walls of the
quiet rooms as well as 12 trompe l'oeil paintings
that referenced travel posters, book covers, and
cartoon illustrations. "The room functions as a
quiet, thoughtful space that lends itself to multiple viewings," Shaw says.
Hannah Spreadbury-Troy, an occupational
therapist at Phoenix Ward, says the hospital's
original artwork "faded into the background."
She adds: "Most of the walls were white or a
pastel shade. Hospital Rooms came in and
tweaked the colors, very cleverly changing the
shade to produce more light and warm up the
room."
One of the most beneficial parts of the program, she says, has been a series of workshops
with the artists and patients. "We definitely
have had people responding creatively [to the
artwork]," she says. "Having direct interactions
with the artists on the ward has been hugely
beneficial and motivational."
Shaw says one patient was inspired by Gavin
Turk's "Eggs Balance," a vinyl piece of two different-sized eggs with one balanced on top of
the other, to make a collage about herself. "We
wanted the artworks to be complex and stimulating and to start conversations," Shaw says.
To that end, he painted the walls of the dining
room to become the Phoenix Gallery, with colored blocks to form borders for artworks that
will be created by patients during future workshops or during their treatment. "It's incredible
to see [patients] and staff discussing the ideas
behind a piece of work, and how it relates to a
memory or feeling they are having themselves,"
he says.-Anne DiNardo

TONI HOLLOWOOD, COURTESY OF HOSPITAL ROOMS

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Healthcare Design - September 2016

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