Over the centuries, art has played a role, albeit intermittent, in the healing environment. Early examples include statues of gods in healing temples in Ancient Greece, to paintings in 15th century Italian hospitals by artists such as Piero della Francesca and Lorenzo Lotto. The majority of these works were
of a religious nature; reflecting the public’s faith in the healing power of religion through the medium of art.

In 18th century Britain, the Foundling Hospital boasted works by Hogarth and many of his friends who donated work to the hospital. Hogarth’s involvement and enthusiasm extended to designing the coat of arms and even ideas for the children’s uniforms.

Victorian Britain saw an expansive era of hospital building and the rise of the institution. Artists and craftspeople were engaged to design flooring, metalwork and stone carvings for example, with an emphasis on integrating architecture with art and design to create an over-riding sense of order.

In the 20th century, these hospitals began to expand at the seams, and new additions and extensions were added. Architecturally, the strong message of order and institution began to be broken up as buildings were altered and extended. Along with these changes, came the rise of individualism. Staff began to customise and personalise the spaces they inhabited either with paintings donated by benefactors or small purchases from endowment funds.

The movement for commissioning site specific art in hospital and healthcare environments, much of which was driven by dedicated and enthusiastic individuals in isolated cases, has now grown significantly. The setting up of a National Network for Arts in Health in 2000 plays an important networking and
advocacy role for the arts in health movement. Today, the majority of hospitals in the UK have some level of arts activity, with many of the larger hospitals developing arts programmes on a strategic level. NHS Grampian has a dedicated arts organisation, GHAT, which plays an invaluable role in siting art in the Grampian healthcare setting as well as organising exhibitions and events.

Although evidence based research for the healing powers of art has still to go a long way, there is much anecdotal evidence to show that visual arts can reduce patient stress, length of hospital stay and also improve staff morale. Ongoing research at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Arts has shown that their arts programme has strong beneficial effects on the patients and staff.

The government also recognises the importance of culture on our nation’s wellbeing and improvement in health. Jack McConnell’s 2003 St Andrews Day speech emphasised the importance of cultural activity to nurture and foster well being. ‘A healthier Scotland must be holistic, it must be about the health of the body, and the health of the mind too.’

With the announcement of a new state of the art children’s hospital for Grampian, it was always the intention of the Trust to holistically commission artwork for the new building. After initial discussion with the Scottish Arts Council arts lottery, the Arts Group recruited PACE to help develop the arts strategy, fundraise, source artists and project manage the commissions.

One of the first tasks was to research into art in hospitals in the UK, particularly in the children’s sector. We saw many excellent individual examples of commissioned work which were imaginative, thoughtful and humanising.

In all too many cases, however, the children’s hospital environments we visited focused overwhelmingly on the younger age group – the under fives. It must not be forgotten that children’s hospitals treat the full spectrum of childhood from
0–16 years. What may be relevant for a toddler will not necessarily appeal to a teenager. Feedback from patients and their families revealed that it is not only children we need to cater for, but the parents and siblings who need to be comforted and reassured.

There is also a tendency when making work for children’s hospitals to focus on the literal and representational, e.g. daisy floor patterns, jungle murals and images of Disney characters which date all too quickly. Through working with children on arts education projects, we have come to learn that children have a higher visual literacy than adults give them credit for and can appreciate and enjoy a wide range of art (including challenging and conceptual art).

In certain cases, there seemed to be a lack of overall artistic direction. Whilst elements worked well individually, at times, there was a clash of styles and overcrowding of artworks which led to a feeling of restlessness and congestion.

Different approaches work for different places. For the RACH project, we concluded that a curated approach to commissioning works would be the preferred route. Artists were selected for their ability to think ‘out of the box’, to extend their practice and also work well as a group. Rather than selecting the tried and tested artists in the public art field, we sought to give opportunities to a wide range of artists. We aimed to avoid fashionable imagery in favour of work that would not date, with the intention of making work which is appropriate to children of all ages as well as their parents and families.

The artists have been encouraged to extend their practice, working in different media and scale. Lucy Richards, a graphic designer accustomed to working in print, has produced fluid and playful graphic designs for walls, columns and floors as well as colourful, bold signage; Michael Brennand-Wood, in a move
away from his traditional medium of textiles, has created a kinetic work using sand and found objects exploring the passage of time; and Lucy Casson, renowned for her small scale recycled works in metal, has created life size plaster creatures for the hospital roof.

Our challenge was to make a significant impact within a limited budget across a building of considerable size: 17,000m2 over five floors. Given the tight construction programme, we had a short window of opportunity to integrate work into the building contract. After the main commissions were completed, and the building up and running, we reviewed the arts strategy and commissioned a further set of artists to make work. Although not integrated into the construction process, the work is nevertheless in tune with the building and complementary to the other artworks. The environmental graphics by Lucy Richards and the lenticular portraits by Andy McGregor, which animate the circulation routes on four floors of the hospital, go against the premise that early artistic intervention is the only route to follow. This is an exciting time to be involved in curating art in hospitals – because of greater interest, understanding and enthusiasm, there is more scope to push the boundaries of public art and to try out new approaches and methods.

With the completion of these commissions, the project does not come to a halt. This first phase is intended as a catalyst for ongoing arts development work in the hospital which will include artist residencies, exhibitions of children’s work, new
commissions and events.

PACE is delighted to have had the opportunity to extend its practice through working on this project. Thanks to NHS Grampian, in particular Jackie Bremner who had the vision, tenacity and diplomacy to steer the project through to completion.

Juliet Dean is Director of PACE