Words by Jo Caird August 13, 2024 Arts Health Lifestyle Society Wellbeing Positive News partners This article has been created by Positive News and supported by Winsor & Newton Share: A unique charity is bringing art to England’s mental health wards, transforming sterile spaces into hubs of creativity It was nearly 10 years ago that Tim A Shaw and his partner, Niamh White, found themselves visiting a close friend who had been admitted as an inpatient to a mental health unit. “It was a really inhumane, cold, clinical space,” he recalls. “Very bare.
Quite claustrophobic. Entirely the opposite of where someone who’s really struggling should be. It felt like our friend had been let down.
” What would happen, the pair wondered, if they could draw on their backgrounds in the art world – Shaw is an artist, White a curator – to “bring artists in and transform the space? We’re used to making spaces beautiful for other people. It felt like we could translate that into mental health units.” Join Winsor & Newton’s Community of Artists Want to learn more about how Winsor & Newton supports and sustains art, and artists? Sign up to receive inspiring colour stories, featured artist profiles, masterclasses and news of all our community projects.
Join our community of artists What began as a one-off project to bring creativity, colour and joy to a single mental health setting – The Phoenix Unit at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS trust – soon exp.