2023-02-03T08:54:38+00:00

Report shows depth of Artroom experience

A look back at the Artroom project in 2022 reveals that nearly 100 art sessions were held during the year.

Artroom is a patient-centred project facilitated by professional artists and writers. It supports individual creativity and art and writing sessions take place in either a shared studio environment or one-to-one.

Started in 2007 by Grampian Hospitals Arts Trust (GHAT), it is co-funded by the Friends and the NHS Grampian Endowment Fund.

The artists at Roxburghe House – Neal and Donna - ran four sets of 12-week programmes in 2022 and following many months of lockdown restrictions, the day unit sessions were able to return to full days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

As well as giving eight talks, they have also started a new Open Artroom project on Thursdays, following a successful pilot towards the end of last year.

The ethos of Artroom is that every patient has the potential to be an artist in their own right. The creative practitioners draw on many years of developed skill and experience to ensure the art and writing sessions are accessible to all participants, contributing to the improvement of quality of life for patients in day unit and in-patient ward care.

Creativity is encouraged using a range of professional materials including an extensive collection of art books. Patients have the opportunity to explore and experiment with techniques and practices such as mark making, drawing, painting, printmaking and photography.

The value of the project is demonstrated in feedback from one of the participants.

“The in-house artists … made the group for me! I am not in any way arty and actually scoffed at the idea on week one but with their support and encouragement I got into splatter painting and was delighted to leave with many pieces of art for myself and family and friends.”

The artists said the day unit patient had suffered from first day nerves and anxieties but after a short introduction and chat with this “non-artist”, a few interests came to the fore.

“We have seen it many times before but seldom have we witnessed such a quick turnaround,” said Neal.

“After that first introduction what followed was 11 more weeks of creativity that not only us, but staff and other day unit users could enjoy and be inspired by.

“It really was such a pleasure to see someone so visibly excited and enthusing others so regularly.”

You can find out more about the Artroom project here.

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