“Paintings in Hospitals”

The Importance of Art to our Mental and Physical Health

Paintings in Hospitals is the first and only national organisation of its kind. Founded in 1959, the charity uses visual art to transform health and social care spaces to inspire better health and wellbeing. Paintings in Hospitals is partnered with 315 care organisations across the UK, lending artworks from its collection and facilitating creative workshops for patients, carers, and local communities.

The Paintings in Hospitals collection is larger than the National Gallery’s, holding over 3,600 artworks, including pieces by Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley, Maggi Hambling, Yinka Shonibare, Helen Chadwick, Anish Kapoor, Elizabeth Blackadder, Anni Albers, Idris Khan, Catherine Yass, Alexander Calder, Dame Elisabeth Frink, and many more.

Join Sandra Bruce-Gordon, Director & Chief Executive, and Janet Bates, Relationship & Development Manager, at Paintings in Hospitals, alongside guests Dr Peter Wilkinson, Consultant Cardiologist at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, and Turner Prize-nominated artist Ian Davenport, as they explore the history of Paintings in Hospitals, key artworks in the collection, and the importance of art to our mental and physical health.

To find out more about Paintings in Hospitals, visit: paintingsinhospitals.org.uk

Paintings in Hospitals Biographies

Sandra Bruce-Gordon FRSA

Sandra graduated from Queen Margaret University Edinburgh with a diploma in drama. She was awarded the student textual prize for her thesis John Paul Sartre and Existentialism. Following university, she was appointed Director of the National Youth Theatre of Bermuda. In 1990 Sandra was part of the successful management team during Glasgow’s reign as European Capital of Culture. As a Head of Service for local authorities, she was responsible for a variety of cultural services including theatres and galleries. As a CEO she was the first person to manage public libraries within the private sector, she was successful in winning bids for charities to run local authority services including libraries, theatres, and museums where those were threatened with closure. Prior to joining Paintings in Hospitals, she ran her own consulting company working on the development of culture and creative industries for a variety of clients. Sandra was awarded the fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts for her work preserving cultural venues.

 

Janet Bates

Janet is a Relationship & Development Manager at Paintings in Hospitals. She joined the charity in 2011 and now helps to develop Paintings in Hospitals’ strategic partnerships at a national level and to deliver funded projects at ground level. Janet combines her role at Paintings in Hospitals with her own art practice in Cambridgeshire. Janet graduated with a BA in Fine Art in 2010 after previously working in publishing for over 20 years. She joined Paintings in Hospitals to help make art more accessible to people facing health issues, particularly in the area of mental health, firmly believing in art’s restorative effect.

 

Ian Davenport

Ian Davenport graduated from Goldsmiths College of Art in 1988 and, as one of the generation of Young British Artists, he participated in the seminal 1988 exhibition Freeze. In 1991 he was shortlisted for the Turner Prize, for which he remains the youngest ever nominee. Ian is well known for his abstract paintings, which explore process and materiality. In recent years his work has consisted of carefully poured lines of acrylic paint down a surface, which puddle and pool at the bottom. This technique allows him to explore complex arrangements of line and colour. Ian has exhibited extensively across the world and has completed major commissions including Poured Lines: Southwark Street, London (2006), a 48-metre-wide painting on a bridge which is one of the largest permanent public artworks in the UK. His work is held in important museum collections including, Arts Council of Great Britain; Tate; Centre Pompidou; National Museum Wales; and Museum of Modern Art, New York. Ian is an Artist Patron of Paintings in Hospitals.

 

Dr Peter Wilkinson

Dr Peter Wilkinson has been a Consultant Cardiologist at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals for over 35 years. He is a keen advocate of creating a healing atmosphere in the hospital. Attending a hospital as a patient or a relative can be a stressful experience and both art and nature can sooth a troubled mind. Staff too can benefit from art in a healthcare environment both as observers and creating art. Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Paintings in Hospitals over many years to the benefit of all.