Hospital Rooms: championing the benefits of art for mental health

By Joe Bulman

Nicola Bealing, Plymouth Shoal, Greenfields Livewell SW Stairwell, Photo: Damian Griffiths, Courtesy of Hospital Rooms.

Hospital Rooms is a visionary arts and mental health charity that works with practicing artists to develop better working and living conditions for mental health inpatient units across the United Kingdom. Artist Tim A Shaw and curator Niamh White first conceived Hospital Rooms after a friend of theirs was admitted to a mental health hospital. The co-founders were stunned by the bleak, clinical living conditions and realised they had to do something. This quickly grew into a revolutionary idea, to transform these living spaces through an eclectic mix of artist’s projects and room renovation. 

In 2016, Hospital Rooms was given an opportunity to generate its first project, located at the Phoenix Unit, in Tooting, which is a unit for people diagnosed with schizophrenia. This project gained national coverage, which has allowed Hospital Rooms to grow over the last few years and collaborate with some of the most famous names in the art world today, such as Assemble, Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley. Each project takes special care of the needs of each venue, which allows for a unique change in space, charging the rooms with a newfound energy.   

Sonia Boyce, Croydon PICU Courtyard, Photo: Damian Griffiths, Courtesy of Hospital Rooms.

In addition to changing the surroundings of the hospitals, Hospital Rooms often utilise workshops, to motivate people to come together and generate art, conversation, and collaboration. These workshops are often held in the units and range from monoprinting abstract form to potato printing Cornish seascapes. These in-unit workshops were tested during the COVID-19 pandemic, and although challenged, the Hospital Rooms team managed to establish the Hospital Rooms Digital Art School. The digital workshops are similar to in-person ones and are free to the public, especially those who are using mental health services. They are designed to guide the viewer through the creative process whilst maintaining a calming space for learning via Zoom.  

Rose Pilkington, The Junipers PICU – De-Escalation Room, 2019, Photo: Damian Griffiths, Courtesy of Hospital Rooms.

These transformative spaces are not only about improving the wellbeing of such individuals, but also about celebrating the powerful effect art can have on happiness, security, and comfort. When interviewed, White states that “our aim is to enable the creation of artwork that can have a direct and practical social impact. We hope to create a series of rooms within the unit that are engaging, beautiful and completely functional for day-to-day life.” The way we engage with mental health is changing rapidly every day. Hospital Rooms is a contemporary series of projects that seeks to use art to create lasting change that looks ambitiously into the future of the arts in these spaces.

Bibliography:

Brydon, Archie. “Hospital rooms: The World’s Most Exclusive Gallery.” Why Now, June, 2021. https://whynow.co.uk/read/hospital-rooms-the-worlds-most-exclusive-gallery/  

 Hawkins, Alexander. “Arts Council England supports initiative to install museum quality art in mental health wards.” It’s Nice That, April 8, 2016. https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/arts-council-england-launches-initiative-to-install-museum-quality-art-in-mental-health-wards  

 Hospital Rooms. “About Us.” Accessed December 3, 2021. https://hospital-rooms.com/about-us