It’s been front page news most every week for a couple years now and so it’s no surprise that public sector cutbacks are having a significant knock-on effect.Unfortunately many of the healthcare settings that benefit from the wonderful artwork from the Art in Healthcare collection are struggling to find the small sums needed to continue to keep their pictures on display. When budgets are being drastically reduced, artwork is one of the first things to go.
This really is a shame as the therapeutic effect of art and a visually stimulating environment is well documented. How many of us would enjoy coming home with nothing on our walls but a few health brochures and a sign describing how to wash our hands properly? And the artwork that’s being scrapped to save a few hundred pounds from budgets isn’t only for hospital patients or residents of the care homes and hospices we work with but it’s also for the staff, who spend such a large part of their lives in high stress jobs caring for others. Additionally, we often receive letters from visitors who really appreciate the artwork, such as the one below:“Good afternoon. I have been visiting my mother in the infirmary every day for the past week and I have found the pictures - particularly Wilhelmina Barns-Graham - very comforting and encouraging. Pictures like these make a big difference to visitors' and patients experience of the infirmary. Thank you and keep up the good work.”
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinic, which is part of the Sick Kids in Edinburgh has 10 beautiful, colourful and fun pictures (4 of them shown here) chosen by their staff from our collection but, like many other healthcare settings, they’re struggling to raise funds to keep the artwork. Here at Art in Healthcare, we do everything we can to facilitate the brightening of spaces like the Sick Kids clinic with our artwork and we rent pictures from our fantastic Scottish art collection for only £35 a year regardless of the size or value of the picture. We’re currently looking to find ways to keep these pictures on the walls at the Sick Kids and we would love to hear from anyone who has any ideas as to how we can manage this.
We’re looking into the idea of corporate sponsorship with local businesses chipping in to pay for the rental and a small plaque could be placed next to each picture with a thank you to the sponsor.Please feel free to comment or to give advice so that we can help the Sick Kids hold onto their art collection. Thanks!
Images:
Magic Casket by Alan Davie
Tugs by Alison Philp
Familiar Faces by Michael Forbes
Garden by Sarah Brown
Just a thought but how about seeing if ex PM or his wife can help... or have I read too quick & they do already... this is the daft sort of thing that really annoys while some faceless bureaucrat will have a piece of art or expensive coffee maker in his office for no ones benefit but his grrrr
ReplyDeleteI think that corporate sponsorship is a good idea. But perhaps they may want to buy a picture outright for a unit/hospital - this may make it more attractive and help re the situation at the hospital and with your revenue?
ReplyDeleteWhat about legacies that allow individuals to do the same? What about putting up a page on Buzzbank?
What about taking all the pictures down in hospitals that are having to take this action, and putting a stark piece of paper in the place of them explaining why the picture has gone, and what can be done to get them back up...?
Happy to share more ideas.