Summer Newsletter 2024 - Art in Healthcare

Dear All,

We hope that you are well!

It’s already approaching the end of August which means it’s time for an update of what we have been up to. This newsletter contains some highlights.

Best wishes,

Art in Healthcare

Room for Art

Edinburgh 900

We were delighted to receive funding in July 2024 from Edinburgh 900 to run Room for Art workshops for health and wellbeing in Edinburgh’s green spaces. As a result of this our groups are meeting up throughout the month of August to make art inspired by natural heritage in parks across the city. We have been able to organise artist led workshops at Redhall Walled Garden, The Gallery of Modern Art, Saughton Park and Jock Tamsin’s Gairden.

Our artist led workshops encourage making art outside and thinking about Edinburgh’s natural heritage. Groups will be experimenting with techniques using natural materials, such as printing and taking rubbings from flowers and leaves, using the sun to make cyanotypes and fabric dying with plants such as turmeric, onion skin and petals. Through these workshops we hope to understand the healing potential of engaging with nature.

The Edinburgh 900 programme was launched on the 31st of July and represents almost a millennium of shared history. The full programme will examine how Edinburgh came to be over the centuries. The programme also supports Edinburgh of the present day shining a light on local communities.

Image: One of the Edinburgh 900 outdoor workshops.

Healing Arts Scotland Festival

In June 2024 our Room for Art groups took part in the Healing Arts Scotland Relay organised by the International teaching artist’s collaborative – ITAC.

The group came together in the Learning Space at Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh to make graphic collages with cut out shapes in vinyl. The collaborative art work that we created was made in response to a long scroll artwork that we received from CAPS Advocacy in the relay, expressing views from people living with mental health challenges.

Our group also reflected on being creative in confinement, such as when we were isolated at home during the pandemic and how making art, and spending time in nature or with animals can improve our mental health and wellbeing.

The Room for Art collaborative Art book will be exhibited at the Scottish Parliament from August 19th as part of the Healing Arts Scotland Festival in 19th – 25th August 24.

Image: Our Room for Art Collaborative Art book on display outside 18 York Place.

Inspiring Volunteer Awards

Congratulations to our dedicated Room for Art Volunteer Team who won an ‘Inspiring Volunteer Award’ this year at the Volunteer Edinburgh Awards Team category.

The Awards ceremony held on the 4th of June was attended by Room for Art Volunteer Lyn Crouchman and Engagement Coordinator Ursula Bevan Hunter.

The event was organised by Volunteer Edinburgh and hosted at the City Chambers in Edinburgh. Robert Aldridge, The Rt. Hon. Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh presented the certificates.

We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to the Room for Art volunteers for the care and commitment they have brought to the volunteer role this year.

They play a vital role in our art-workshops for health and wellbeing, providing support, friendship and inspiration to our groups.

Image: Lyn Crouchman receiving her award accompanied by Ursula.

Taking Art Home

Restarting in August after a summer break our online “Taking Art Home” classes continue. We have two groups for people living with Long Covid and two groups for those with long-term health conditions. In this block, we’ll be sketching scenes from East Lothian using films created by our filmmaker, Matt Robinson. We’ll be drawing landmarks like the Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle.

These online classes are designed for people who find it difficult to go out, so we aim to bring the outdoors to participants, and create the feeling that we’re all sitting around a table together, even though we’re connecting remotely via zoom.

If you need a creative break, feel free to try one of our activities from last term. You can draw a scene in Pittenweem using the videos below. All you need is a pencil and some paper.

Activity: https://youtu.be/VAXOhHGmLmk

Long Shot to draw from: https://youtu.be/0Ks3q6_UkIc

Image: Filming in East Lothian.

Edinburgh Marathon Festival

A huge well done and thank you to all of our runners who took part in the Edinburgh Marathon in May, raising money for Art in Healthcare. We had four runners taking part this year, raising a total of £1,052.

Image: Two of our runners after completing the Edinburgh Marathon.

Doors Open Day at the Heart of Newhaven

The Landscape Has Changed – Art Workshop
Saturday 28 September 2024
2.00pm – 4.00pm
Free/Drop In

We’re looking forward to joining our friends at Heart of Newhaven for Doors Open Day this year. With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Curator Jamie Dyer worked with local residents to develop ideas for an exhibition. The result, which was installed earlier this year, The Landscape Has Changed, is inspired by people, place and the rich heritage that exists in Newhaven and surrounding areas. It features artists including Brownlee Armour, Maggie Clyde, Stephanie Dees, Jack Firth, Douglas Gray, Jane Hyslop, Alfons Jasinski, William Main, Linda Mallett, Carol Moore and Nicky Sanderson.

Join us for an opportunity to create work inspired by the exhibition. The workshop is free, drop in and is suitable for all abilities.

New Strategic Plan

We have created a new Strategic Plan for 2024-2028. You can view a shortened version of the plan on our website click clicking here.

Career Ready UK

We have once again been working with Career Ready UK; a national social mobility charity which helps high school students to find out about career pathways. Our Finance and Office Manager Elaine has been mentoring Angelica since last August followed by a paid month long internship at the Art in Healthcare office. We loved having Angelica as part of the team!

Angelica said: “During my 4 weeks working at Art in Healthcare for my internship, thanks to Career Ready, I was able to know my mentor Elaine who helped me have an amazing experience understanding what the company does and how they support people with their services. I got to assist the organisation with lots of tasks such as working on their website, helping take minutes, contributing to meetings, gaining a lot of knowledge on accounting and finance and more. I am incredibly grateful for Career Ready to give me this internship and had a wonderful time getting to know everyone in the company as well as my mentor Elaine.”

Image: Our Career Ready UK intern Angelica in front of our Room for Art Healing Arts Relay artwork.

Thank you Ursula!

A massive thank you and good luck to our Engagement Co-Ordinator Ursula who will be leaving her role to start a Masters in Art Psychology.

As part of a new section of the newsletter where we are going to be introducing you to the members of our team, Ursula has answered a few questions:

What has your role at Art in Healthcare involved?

Hello, my name is Ursula and I am the Engagement Coordinator for Art in Healthcare.

My main focus is organising our Room for Art workshops for health and wellbeing.

These workshops encourage individual exploration of visual art processes, with an emphasis on mark making, experimentation and play. Participants are living with mental and physical health challenges and they join our groups by referral through social prescribing. We offer weekly art workshops, led by professional artists, with the aim of realising the healing potential of art and how this can improve long-term wellbeing.

I have been working on coordinating Room for Art for three years and have seen it evolve into an amazingly impactful and inclusive creative engagement programme, supporting over 70 people across Edinburgh. Pop up art studios are created in community venues, often in areas where access to art and creative experiences are limited. As part of this programme, I also coordinate opportunities for our groups to exhibit their own artworks, visit art galleries and spend time outside in nature.

Has there been a development or project that you’ve been particularly proud of?

In 2022 I began recruiting workshop volunteers for Room for Art and have established a dedicated team of 10. They assist the project artists with running the workshops and offer their time to help participants feel welcome and supported. Our Volunteer team are now vital to the smooth running of these sessions and their input has proven to greatly reduce stress for the facilitating artists. They have also developed meaningful supportive relationships with our participants, and we are hugely grateful for the wonderful contribution that they make. This year our volunteers were recognised at the Inspiring Volunteer Awards presented at the City Chambers in Edinburgh.

What will you be doing next?

This September I’m beginning a full time course to train as an Art Psychotherapist, so sadly I will be moving on from my post at Art in Healthcare. I hope to keep in touch and would love to be involved in future projects. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank to the AiH Team, Artist’s, Volunteers and Participants for your generosity of spirit and for welcoming me into this creative community.