Transforming our hospital environment
Vital Arts, the arts and wellbeing service at Barts Health, is transforming the visual environment at Newham Hospital. The team are working to install artworks that significantly improve the hospital experience for patients and staff.
Working closely with staff at the hospital, including the acting CEO, the comms team, estates team and staff more broadly, Vital Arts is rolling out its ambitious art strategy for the hospital. Its implementation will set the standard for uplifting, professional and welcoming hospital spaces that align with the Trust’s reputation for excellence and innovation.
Co-developing artwork
This forward-looking approach to wellbeing and enhancement of the patient experience includes installation of a major new artwork in the main St Andrew’s Wing entrance. Lauren Godfrey's commission extend up to the atrium’s ceiling, with the artwork wrapping around the upper walls, descending to the first-floor mezzanine and extending down to the ground-floor windows, with vinyl shapes that cast colourful shadows which move along the floor as light changes throughout the day.
Motifs for the artwork emerged from creative workshops with hospital staff and Plashet School students. Participants were encouraged to bring patterned textiles that held personal meaning, and to draw them. Items included cloth from a student’s hometown in Ghana; a dress sewn from locally sourced fabric, that had been handed down through generations; and a scarf gifted by a deceased relative. The artist used patterns from these various textiles in the mural, vinyl and wooden sculptural elements of the installation.
Some of the drawings created during the workshops are displayed within the artwork as stand-alone pictures, which celebrate the diverse community which inspired this commission. Among the drawings are some by Newham staff including Catriona Rowland, Bisi Oshinbolu and Navjot Parmar. The stories behind the fabrics and the final artwork will soon be available to read on the Vital Arts website.
The start of something new
This work marks the start of a host of changes that Vital Arts will be making to the hospital in the coming months. New artwork will be installed along hospital corridors, in outdoor areas and in Health Central to bring more life and vibrancy to the hospital.
The first of these artworks has already been installed in the Moorish garden. The soaring steel sculpture by artist Adeela Suleman features a large apple tree, clouds and birds, making reference to the cycle of life and of birth and renewal. A companion piece to this artwork is installed at The Royal London Hospital. Make sure to take some time in the garden to view the piece. Keep an eye out for more high-quality artworks throughout the hospital in the coming months and tweet your favourite when you see it, tagging @NewhamHospital and @VitalArts
Other impactful changes Vital Arts have made at the hospital include:
- An installation by Cecilia Charlton, based on embroidery techniques, that runs through the new Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Unit.
- Installation of artworks by leading artists in several staff rooms to support wellbeing as part of #100NHSRoom project. These include portraits of a nurse by Barbara Walker, which were exhibited at Southbank Centre.
- Immersive artworks in the Gateway Surgical Centre, Custom House Ward and Rainbow Unit