LAHF’s next event is a lunchtime talk by portrait painter, Adam Hahn, who has undertaken a year of research into an eye condition called macular degeneration which causes deterioration of the central focus of the vision. Adam’s paintings will be on display and he will be speaking alongside Professor Pete Coffey, Director of the London Project to Cure Blindness from the Institute of Opthalmology about the project and the impact it has had on the Project’s practice. The event, in conjunction with Paintings in Hospitals and Mascalls Gallery will take place at the Menier Gallery in Borough on the 23 July at 1pm. Light refreshments will be served.

For more details about the event and to book a place, please contact  Damian@lahf.org.uk

The event is part of Paintings in Hospitals’ fourth annual summer exhibition, ‘In Search of Beauty and Wellbeing’, which runs from 23 July – 14 August 2008, and those who attend the event will have the opportunity to explore the rest of the exhibition which aims to “highlight the necessity for art as a means of communication, expression, and release, as well as its importance to one’s general wellbeing and happiness”.  

Among the events scheduled alongside the exhibition is a talk by John D Edwards, an artist who has created a body of work in response to a life threatening form of cancer. This will take place on Wednesday 30 July at 6.30pm. For more details, contact b.moseley@paintingsinhospitals.org.uk

On June 19th, LAHF is hosting an event looking at the ways in which history can be displayed in healthcare settings and the role of artifacts in developing arts programmes. Speakers include Tony van de Bospoort from Woodgate Design (www.hospitalartstudio.co.uk/) and Shirley Chubb, an artist whose work centres on the making of new images and objects in direct response to specific museum collections. Her recent piece, Thinking Path, created in response to the life and ideas of Charles Darwin is due to be installed on long term loan at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Bromley later this year. (www.thinkingpath.org.uk/)

The event will take place at Beckenham Beacon, part of Beckenham Hospitals in Kent from 5.30 to 7pm. The nearest station is Beckenham Junction, (20 mins from Victoria). There is also parking at the venue.

For more information, and to register for a free place at this event, please contact Damian@lahf.org.uk

In April, LAHF hosted an event which brought together over 70 professionals working with arts in health and arts therapies for a half day seminar. A lively discussion brought together leading figures from all aspects of this debate looking at differences in practice and outlook and also the ways in which the practice of art therapy overlaps with other arts activity in healthcare settings.

Details of the event are available from Damian Hebron at LAHF. Discussions are now ongoing as to how this event might be used to develop further links and shared learning.

Later this year, LAHF is planning an event focusing on the role art can play in supporting wayfinding in hospitals as well as artists showcases, tours of newly developed healthcare environments and events looking at music, comedy, dance and theatre. For more details, check out our regular newsletters.

On April 8th LAHF is bringing together artists and art therapists working with a range of artforms from across the country to examine the ways in which professionals using art in healthcare settings can learn from each other.

The half day seminar (which begins at 12pm and includes lunch) will include presentations from the Northern Centre for Cancer Treatment where artists work directly with therapists and from the Birmingham Centre for Art Therapies as well as panel discussions looking at the points of overlap between arts therapy and artists working in healthcare.

Speakers include: Malcolm Learmonth (British Association of Arts Therapists), Lisa Davey (Music in Hospitals) Lorraine von Gehlen (Inspire Arts) and Norma Daykin (Professor of Arts in Health - University of West of England) as well as artists, Dramatherapists and musicians. The event will take place at Arts Council England’s offices in Farringdon.

Places at the seminar are strictly limited and more than half the places have now been allocated. To reserve a place, please contact damian@lahf.org.uk

There are a handful of places left for our event later this month which offers a free taster session of the outreach programme run by Tate Modern. This event will include an introduction to Tate Modern’s outreach programme led by Liz Ellis, Curator of the Community Programme followed by introductions to the gallery’s collection led by artist educators.

Tate Modern runs this regular outreach programme for community groups attracting a wide range of adult groups from non-formal education, social and health settings. This event will offer LAHF members a sense of how the programme works and an opportunity to debate the ways in which programmes like this can integrate with other arts in health activity in London.

The event will take place on Wednesday 12th March from 10.30am – 1pm. Places will be reserved on a strictly first come first served basis, for more details contact Damian Hebron: Damian@lahf.org.uk

This Wednesday, LAHF members are invited to an artist talk to examine the impact on artists’ practice of residencies in hospitals.

Malcolm Glover, a photographer who has undertaken numerous hospital residencies has just completed a residency with the support of the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust and Paintings in Hospitals who selected Glover as the recipient of the third Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award. An exhibition of Malcolm Glover’s work is being staged at the Menier Gallery, Menier Chocolate Factory, London from the 4th to the 15th March. The talk will take place at 5.30pm on Wednesday 5th March and will feature Malcolm Glover and Stuart Davie, Director of Paintings in Hospitals.

The event is designed to look at the ways in which artists can work in healthcare settings and to explore the opportunities for artists to develop work in this way. The event will include an opportunity to see the exhibition and to network informally with artists and arts in health practitioners. For more information or to register interest, e: Damian@lahf.org.uk

LAHF members are invited to attend the private view of a new exhibition of work examining the treatment of cancer. The exhibition showcases the work of French visual artist Patrick Altes who was artist in residence at the Sussex Cancer Centre at Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton for ten months last year during which time he documented the role of oncologists in cancer treatment.

A former cancer patient himself, Altes says "Medicine is closely linked to our primal need for survival and we relate to doctors in a complex way; when exposed to something as frightening as cancer, we see them as healers, rather than just a vehicle for science doling out treatment to put us back on track. I'm interested in how doctors are affected by the tolls of straddling sophisticated scientific medicine alongside the emotional burden of treating a fearful illness."

The private view will incorporate a panel discussion examining the role of oncologists in light of the exhibition. The discussion will be chaired by Professor Michael Baum, Professor Emeritus of Surgery and visiting Professor of Medical Humanities at University College of London, and will feature Patrick Altes, Professor Lesley Fallowfield of Cancer Research UK, and Dr David Bloomfield, Clinical Director of the Sussex Cancer Centre.

The event will run from 6pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday 5^th February at the Menier Chocolate Factory, 51 Southwark Street, London SE1. The exhibition continues until 10^th February.

For more information or to confirm attendance, contact Damian@lahf.org.uk

In recent years, the development of new healthcare facilities has often involved using the arts as a means of creating accessible buildings with a link to local communities. Several new health centres and GP practices around the country have placed the arts at the heart of building practices resulting in improved community engagement and, in some cases creating new focal points for fragmented neighbourhoods. However, the impact of the arts on these projects can be hard to monitor and can create challenges for architects and clinicians.

For the conclusion of its series of events looking at community healthcare and the arts, London Arts in Health Forum is bringing together doctors, architects and artists who have been involved in the development of innovative new community practices to discuss the issues that arise when the arts are used in this way.

On November 8th, LAHF is offering members an exclusive tour of the landmark Bromley by Bow Centre.

Now recognised as a model of how to integrate an arts programme into community healthcare practice, the Bromley by Bow Centre offers a diverse range of arts based activities as well as providing workshop space for artists.

The tour will include presentations from three of the artists currently working with the Centre and promises to be an exciting opportunity to see how the arts can be used to influence healthcare provision in community settings.

The tour will take place on Thursday November 8th from 3.30pm – 5.30pm.

Places on the tour will be reserved on a strictly first come first served basis and much interest has already been expressed in this event.

To reserve a place, please contact Damian Hebron  e: Damian@lahf.org.uk.