EnjoyArt
EnjoyArt is the arts participation programme at BWC, and the programme is funded by Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital Charity.
EnjoyArt commission artwork that transforms the hospital environment into a welcoming and uplifting space, and curate a participatory programme of arts activities, including theatre, visual arts, dance and music.
Our mission is to use the arts to enhance the hospital environment and experience for patients, families and staff.
As well as our participatory programme of arts activities, EnjoyArt collaborate with talented artists and designers who co-create bespoke environmental artworks in partnership with patients, families, carers and staff.
By co-designing with patients, families and staff, we ensure the art we create reflect the complexities and unique needs of the hospital environment, transforming clinical spaces into calming therapeutic environments.
Additionally, we partner with academic institutions to conduct research that explores sustainable, creative approaches to hospital design. This ensures our work contributes to long-term improvements in both patient care and the hospital environment.
Why is art important for health?
Art plays a vital role in creating a healing environment and
improving well-being of patients, families and staff.
Key research has shown that:
- Art can reduce stress, anxiety, and pain by providing
a sense of calm and comfort - Hospital environments can feel sterile and
intimidating. Art adds warmth and beauty, making
spaces more inviting and less clinical - Art can provide a distraction from the challenges of
illness and treatment - Art can be used to celebrate diversity and reflect the
cultural identity of the community - Aesthetic spaces improve staff job satisfaction and
morale, indirectly benefitting patient care - Participating in a creative activity promotes mental
and emotional healing.
Regular participatory provision
EnjoyArt work closely with professional artists, who place creativity and joy at the heart of the arts programme.
Specialising in various mediums including music, drama, and visual arts, they lead regular workshops and bedside sessions tailored to all abilities.
Our current external programme providers include, B’Opera, Giggle Doctors, Music Therapy Works, POD Magicians, Rhythm Time and Singing Medicine.
Support from BWC Charity
Mark Brider, CEO of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity, said:
“We are extremely proud to support our Trust’s innovative EnjoyArt programme, which connects patients, families and staff to arts and creative projects to help enhance hospital experiences.
“There is overwhelming evidence arts can improve the wellbeing of patients and families by easing anxiety and stress, which in turn can reduce the length of a patient’s hospital stay. Our charity therefore strives to make our hospitals warm and welcoming, creating calm and soothing spaces where our patients and families can feel safe and our staff proud to work.
“From championing local artists who create new and relaxing spaces to artistic performances and creative pursuits, EnjoyArt is funded entirely thanks to charitable donations.
“To help us to continue to inspire, engage and entertain our patients, families and staff please donate or find out more via our website
Current projects
- Hospital Rooms – a co-design and co-production project, in collaboration with patients, families and staff to design environmental art installations
- Lavender House – mural design in progress, in collaboration with patients and staff
- Artists-in-Residence – Current artists-in-residence are printmaker Fae Kilburn and poet Hayley Frances, working with patients, families and staff across the Trust
Please email bwc.enjoyart@nhs.net if you have any queries, concerns or offers to do with arts at the hospital.
Magical Journey
A co-design project to create a ‘Magical Journey’ for everyone who enters Waterfall House, using art, to enhance the environment and improve wayfinding.
A procurement tender process saw the recruitment of Lucentia Design to the project, which started in late 2020. The project has been funded by BWC Charity and Oncology Charity and has been managed by Janette Vyse, Arts Programme Lead.
We wanted to use artwork to create a sense of security, reduce anxiety and aid well-being; offer a comforting distraction from the stress of hospital visits and treatment, and provide stimulus to engage children and young people during their hospital visit or stay.
As we reach the final stages of the project, the project will reach its grand finish in the next few months, we are proud to celebrate what we have achieved.
The project has been a truly collaborative and participatory one, with children, young people, and families at the heart of design throughout.
The completed artworks will inspire activity books which we hope will in turn support BWC Charities' work to support future projects to improve patient experience.
We hope this project and the things we have learnt will inform the proposed plans to improve wayfinding across the rest of the main hospital and other sites too.
Words from Stella Correll, Creative Director
The Magical Journey Arts Project has been a delightful experience to date with its extensive creative engagement with children and young people.
This process of putting the service user at the heart of our work is fundamental to make relevant artworks that will stand the test of time.
It is and continues to be a huge inspirational steer on our developing ideas and designed artworks.
We have created a distinct wayfinding identity for Waterfall House with its pencil signage, rainbows and fun facts which lead you to the different departments over four floors.
Each department also has its own identity from creating uplifting designs for in-patients, captivating designs for long waits before theatre to fun out-patient designs.
The images show selected artworks alongside bed bay curtain designs we created for both in-patient Ward 18 and Out-patients 2 and 3.
These were initially prompted through conversations with children and young people about all the things they might like to be or like to do.
As you can imagine we had such varied responses and some amazing conversations and stories along the way.
This led us to create a super multi-world design for out-patients to dip in and out of adventures while having their treatment.
For outpatients, we created a calm outdoor design to explore and take thoughts away from being in the hospital environment.
A huge thank you to all the amazing children and young people who inspired our artwork designs to date, to YPAG and Think4Brum for their support and guidance and to all staff involved.
Damien Hirst Artwork
In 2020, British artist Damien Hirst released two limited-edition rainbow prints to show support for the NHS in the Coronavirus crisis. The work is made up of bands of coloured butterfly wings, one of the artist’s best‐known motifs. A limited edition of the work was produced with all profits donated to NHS Charities Together and The Felix Project, raising a total of £1,508,172. Damien decided to donate some of the prints to some UK Trusts and we are pleased to say we were one of the Trusts to be chosen.
The limited-edition Butterfly Rainbows is now proudly on display in the main corridor at our Children’s Hospital opposite our very own rainbow corridor. The beautiful piece of art brightens up the corridor and we hope it will bring joy to our patients, families, and staff as they pass by.
Roald Dahl Stained-Glass Windows
Roald Dahl is one of the world’s best-loved authors. In 2019 we were honoured to work with Mrs Felicity Dahl to bring the magic of his stories to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Our beautiful Roald Dahl stained glass windows take pride of place in the entrance to Waterfall House, our Children’s Cancer and Rare Diseases Centre.
Renowned for his much-loved illustrations, Sir Quentin generously donated his original drawings to enable us to create the windows which feature many of the most well-known characters from Roald Dahl’s children’s books, including The BFG, The Enormous Crocodile, and The Twits.
Funded entirely by charitable donations, we hope that our windows will inspire our young patients to read and enjoy literature, generate conversations, distract from difficult and upsetting situations and provide a stimulus for learning and self-expression.
We were delighted to welcome HRH The Duchess of Cornwall to our hospital in January 2020 to unveil the windows in a special ceremony with our children, families and staff.
