Into the Light was an exhibition at Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives (March to June 2015) of artworks created in partnership with the Arts Project, a programme of art sessions offered as part of therapeutic activities service in the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
Professional artists worked with about 100 participants to create new works inspired by Woodhorn’s collections. The participants also co-curated the exhibition, selecting works and making decisions about their placement and presentation.
The project was a good fit for Woodhorn, says Liz Ritson, the museum’s public programme manager. “Our main collection is the Ashington Group also know as the Pitmen Painters – a group of miners who studied art history by creating their own works,” she says. “It is art made by unlikely people in an unlikely place, and it’s also a great historical record of their daily life.”
The museum didn’t have a lot of previous experience working with people with mental health conditions, although it had previously partnered with Pallant House Gallery in Chichester to show work from Outside In, an art competition for “outsider artists”, which Ritson says gave it confidence.
“We were approached by Jane Akhurst, the manager of Arts Project, as she was keen for us to show the work produced by the Arts Project,” Ritson says. “We try not to just be a repository as we prefer to work with people and inspire new ways of working, so we thought about how we could make it happen and decided to go for arts council funding to support a more ambitious project.”
The project received nearly £13,000 from Arts Council England (ACE), with Northampton County Council providing £1,200 for special events and activities. Ritson estimates the project cost Woodhorn £5,000 and the Arts Project £20,000 in in-kind contributions, including staff time.
The money enabled the museum to work with a large number of the Arts Project’s service users, who have varying degrees of health needs; some have passes to go out into the community, some live offsite and others are not able to leave the wards.
“The ACE funding allowed us to put on sessions at the museum so people could come and see the collections and archives, as well as sessions at the hospital,” Ritson says. “The money helped with material and presentation costs, which was really important because we wanted to make sure that the work was exhibited to the highest possible standards.”
The funding also paid for the museum to employ a “critical friend”, who helped participants with the selection process and ensured that the partnership worked well for both parties.
One of the challenges was to make sure the project was a meaningful experience for patients detained in the secure unit, Jane Akhurst says. “We were very fortunate that the museum’s community participation officer came to the hospital, got on well with patients and made the resources accessible and interesting – she was key to the project’s success.”
Although the final evaluation has not been finalised yet, Akhurst says that staff could see how much patients enjoyed taking part. Any negative impact was minimised by relying on the NHS support staff’s expertise in tailoring the experience for individuals.
“Choice and energy can be things that people struggle with, but finding that they are vital to delivering a project can be just the right thing for them to gain confidence and a positive sense of identity,” Akhurst says.
Despite having to make some difficult decisions around the selection of artworks, the process went smoothly and Ritson said the end result was a “surprisingly coherent exhibition”.
Works by professional artists were also displayed in the exhibition, but none of the artists were identified due to data protection issues and to ensure the focus was on inclusivity and not on the professional/patient relationship.
One of the lessons from the project has been the importance of time. “Our community officer ran more sessions than originally anticipated, and we took up a lot of her time, which was okay because we’re flexible but it might not have worked at a different kind of organisation,” Ritson says.
The museum hopes to continue to work with the Arts Project, and is considering how it can help patients who are getting back into the community.
“We will continue to work with hard-to-reach groups,” Ritson says. “At the end of the day, we are based in an area of low cultural engagement and high levels of health issues, so they are our audience.”
Professional artists worked with about 100 participants to create new works inspired by Woodhorn’s collections. The participants also co-curated the exhibition, selecting works and making decisions about their placement and presentation.
The project was a good fit for Woodhorn, says Liz Ritson, the museum’s public programme manager. “Our main collection is the Ashington Group also know as the Pitmen Painters – a group of miners who studied art history by creating their own works,” she says. “It is art made by unlikely people in an unlikely place, and it’s also a great historical record of their daily life.”
The museum didn’t have a lot of previous experience working with people with mental health conditions, although it had previously partnered with Pallant House Gallery in Chichester to show work from Outside In, an art competition for “outsider artists”, which Ritson says gave it confidence.
“We were approached by Jane Akhurst, the manager of Arts Project, as she was keen for us to show the work produced by the Arts Project,” Ritson says. “We try not to just be a repository as we prefer to work with people and inspire new ways of working, so we thought about how we could make it happen and decided to go for arts council funding to support a more ambitious project.”
The project received nearly £13,000 from Arts Council England (ACE), with Northampton County Council providing £1,200 for special events and activities. Ritson estimates the project cost Woodhorn £5,000 and the Arts Project £20,000 in in-kind contributions, including staff time.
The money enabled the museum to work with a large number of the Arts Project’s service users, who have varying degrees of health needs; some have passes to go out into the community, some live offsite and others are not able to leave the wards.
“The ACE funding allowed us to put on sessions at the museum so people could come and see the collections and archives, as well as sessions at the hospital,” Ritson says. “The money helped with material and presentation costs, which was really important because we wanted to make sure that the work was exhibited to the highest possible standards.”
The funding also paid for the museum to employ a “critical friend”, who helped participants with the selection process and ensured that the partnership worked well for both parties.
One of the challenges was to make sure the project was a meaningful experience for patients detained in the secure unit, Jane Akhurst says. “We were very fortunate that the museum’s community participation officer came to the hospital, got on well with patients and made the resources accessible and interesting – she was key to the project’s success.”
Although the final evaluation has not been finalised yet, Akhurst says that staff could see how much patients enjoyed taking part. Any negative impact was minimised by relying on the NHS support staff’s expertise in tailoring the experience for individuals.
“Choice and energy can be things that people struggle with, but finding that they are vital to delivering a project can be just the right thing for them to gain confidence and a positive sense of identity,” Akhurst says.
Despite having to make some difficult decisions around the selection of artworks, the process went smoothly and Ritson said the end result was a “surprisingly coherent exhibition”.
Works by professional artists were also displayed in the exhibition, but none of the artists were identified due to data protection issues and to ensure the focus was on inclusivity and not on the professional/patient relationship.
One of the lessons from the project has been the importance of time. “Our community officer ran more sessions than originally anticipated, and we took up a lot of her time, which was okay because we’re flexible but it might not have worked at a different kind of organisation,” Ritson says.
The museum hopes to continue to work with the Arts Project, and is considering how it can help patients who are getting back into the community.
“We will continue to work with hard-to-reach groups,” Ritson says. “At the end of the day, we are based in an area of low cultural engagement and high levels of health issues, so they are our audience.”