Patient art exhibition to open to the public at Norwich Gallery
An art initiative involving patients from Northside House opens to the public on Tuesday 16 November and runs to Saturday 15 January 2022. The venue hosting this amazing project is East Gallery, Cavendish House, St Andrews Street, Norwich, NR2 4AE
Northside House is a medium secure unit for men in Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and provides care to people who have a severe and enduring mental health diagnosis and have been in touch with the criminal justice system. This dual element often means that service users experience disproportionate stigma and, as a consequence, face a series of barriers to meaningful engagement with arts and culture.
The most poignant piece of feedback came from a service user who, inspired by the project, painted their own full scale artworks on the ward. This has been described by staff as being “absolutely unheard of in secure services”.
During the project, service users and staff participated in a series of workshops alongside critically acclaimed artists Cara Nahaul, Carl Rowe, Dexter Dalwood, Jade Montserrat, Naomi Harwin and Richard Wentworth.
“These artists, who have incredible reputations, have come to our service, to Catton Ward, given their time and have been inspired by our service users and their ideas to create something that’s for the community on the ward. It has completely transformed the culture of ward.” said Su Pashley, People Participation Lead at NSFT
The workshops went on to inform six installations in spaces across Northside House. Inspiration came directly from the workshops for some artists; Carl Rowe’s ‘BE’ originated in an artwork made by a service user with the words ‘be younique’. Whilst others were sparked by conversations or a moment; Richard Wentworth’s visits to The Mount, an outside workshop space for service users at Northside, during the early summer months became integral to the artwork he installed on Blakeney Ward.
The initiative has been supported by Arts Council England, Baring Foundation, Norwich University of the Arts and NSFT.
You can find out more about Hospital Rooms and the work they do with mental health patients by visiting this link Hospital Rooms
If you are able, do go along to the exhibition. Opening hours are Tuesday – Friday 12-5pm and Saturday 12-4pm. You can book tickets online