Thanks to the University of Edinburgh and Art in Healthcare for this internship opportunity, which has made me even more determined that I wanted to do something related to Art Healing, to help more people through art.
During my internship at Art in Healthcare, I not only gained valuable experience and knowledge, but also had the chance to be genuinely involved in every step of how art contributes to healing. One unforgettable moment was attending a workshop hosted at the National Portrait Gallery. I sat alongside people in the artistic workshop, listening together as the guide shared stories behind each artwork. When it came time for art-making, everyone was encouraged to freely express their inspiration — it was a beautiful reminder of how art welcomes every voice, every emotion.
At the Room for Art: Reuse, Renew exhibition, I witnessed participants speak about their own works with such confidence and openness. It felt like they were sharing their healing journeys through their creations — quietly powerful, deeply personal. This, to me, is what art should be: something that belongs to everyone, without judgment of good or bad. It’s a form of expression from the soul.
Choosing an artwork from Art in Healthcare’s collection was a difficult task. Every time I browsed the database, I was struck by the warmth conveyed through the artwork titles or the creative styles that reflected personal stories and emotions. In the end, I chose Radios by artist Hermione Macmillan. It was the first artwork I saw when I walked into the Art in Healthcare office on my first day. Whether it’s a cloudy day or a sunny one, it’s always fascinating to see it beside the large window. The radios arranged horizontally in the painting resemble buildings on a street, making the whole image feel like a microcosm of a modern city. The large areas of yellow contrast sharply with the varying tones of blue, creating a strong visual impact. The yellow feels like sunlight spilling across the scene, while the blues provide shadows and highlights, giving that sunlight a deeper sense of realism.As the artist notes, she hopes to use the shapes, geometries, and structures of buildings and objects to create the extraordinary from the ordinary — encouraging viewers to see the world around them in a new light and to reconsider the urban environments they inhabit. Choosing this piece for an interior feels like opening a window to a room that always sees a sunny view.
Image: Seredia standing beside Hermione MacMillan’s “Radios”
2 April 2025 by
Amy Miles