Friends of Roxburghe House Grampian
Friends of Roxburghe House Grampian
Artroom
Artroom offers an environment that supports individual creativity. Art and writing sessions take place in a shared studio environment or one-to-one, and participants are supported to find their own style and work at their own pace. Through ongoing conversation, sessions are tailored to suit individual needs and interests. They are based on the understanding that everyone is creative and offer participants the opportunity to be themselves.
The Roxburghe House Artroom was started in 2007 by Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT), who continue to manage the project. Initially we worked solely with patients attending the Day Unit. As the project developed we began additionally to run sessions for families, visitors, and at patient bedsides. In 2012 we started to offer creative writing alongside visual art – supporting patients to explore and reflect on their lives in words. We now also work with outpatients, as well as offering experiential training for clinical staff.
'You can read an extract from a memoir by John Jones, written while he was an inpatient at Roxburghe House, "here"
The Roxburghe House Artroom was started in 2007 by Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT), who continue to manage the project. Initially we worked solely with patients attending the Day Unit. As the project developed we began additionally to run sessions for families, visitors, and at patient bedsides. In 2012 we started to offer creative writing alongside visual art – supporting patients to explore and reflect on their lives in words. We now also work with outpatients, as well as offering experiential training for clinical staff.
'You can read an extract from a memoir by John Jones, written while he was an inpatient at Roxburghe House, "here"
Over time Artroom has become an integral part of the service at Roxburghe House. Patient art works and creative writing are now visible around the unit, enriching the environment for all. But for many participants it is the creative process itself and the relationships that develop through it that are most meaningful:
When the patients were doing the art, they stopped being patients. It was almost impossible to go to that table and ask a clinical question. Any staff interaction with patients was then happening at a human to human level – and that’s beautiful.
‘So where is that? Have you been there?’
The one I remember most vividly was this old chap who had never done a picture before, and he painted this incredible picture of a man with a chisel and a mallet and a stripy waistcoat. And it was only when he’d done it that staff realised he’d been a stonemason as a young man. The stripy waistcoat was because the stonemasons used to made waistcoats out of rags to protect them from the pinging stones. That conversation would never have happened without the painting and it changed the view of the man. And being seen differently by staff also changed how he saw himself.
Dr Linklater, Former Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Roxburghe House
‘So where is that? Have you been there?’
The one I remember most vividly was this old chap who had never done a picture before, and he painted this incredible picture of a man with a chisel and a mallet and a stripy waistcoat. And it was only when he’d done it that staff realised he’d been a stonemason as a young man. The stripy waistcoat was because the stonemasons used to made waistcoats out of rags to protect them from the pinging stones. That conversation would never have happened without the painting and it changed the view of the man. And being seen differently by staff also changed how he saw himself.
Dr Linklater, Former Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Roxburghe House
Artroom
Artroom offers an environment that supports individual creativity. Art and writing sessions take place in a shared studio environment or one-to-one, and participants are supported to find their own style and work at their own pace. Through ongoing conversation, sessions are tailored to suit individual needs and interests. They are based on the understanding that everyone is creative and offer participants the opportunity to be themselves.
The Roxburghe House Artroom was started in 2007 by Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT), who continue to manage the project. Initially we worked solely with patients attending the Day Unit. As the project developed we began additionally to run sessions for families, visitors, and at patient bedsides. In 2012 we started to offer creative writing alongside visual art – supporting patients to explore and reflect on their lives in words. We now also work with outpatients, as well as offering experiential training for clinical staff.
'You can read an extract from a memoir by John Jones, written while he was an inpatient at Roxburghe House, "here"
The Roxburghe House Artroom was started in 2007 by Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT), who continue to manage the project. Initially we worked solely with patients attending the Day Unit. As the project developed we began additionally to run sessions for families, visitors, and at patient bedsides. In 2012 we started to offer creative writing alongside visual art – supporting patients to explore and reflect on their lives in words. We now also work with outpatients, as well as offering experiential training for clinical staff.
'You can read an extract from a memoir by John Jones, written while he was an inpatient at Roxburghe House, "here"
Over time Artroom has become an integral part of the service at Roxburghe House. Patient art works and creative writing are now visible around the unit, enriching the environment for all. But for many participants it is the creative process itself and the relationships that develop through it that are most meaningful:
When the patients were doing the art, they stopped being patients. It was almost impossible to go to that table and ask a clinical question. Any staff interaction with patients was then happening at a human to human level – and that’s beautiful.
‘So where is that? Have you been there?’
The one I remember most vividly was this old chap who had never done a picture before, and he painted this incredible picture of a man with a chisel and a mallet and a stripy waistcoat. And it was only when he’d done it that staff realised he’d been a stonemason as a young man. The stripy waistcoat was because the stonemasons used to made waistcoats out of rags to protect them from the pinging stones. That conversation would never have happened without the painting and it changed the view of the man. And being seen differently by staff also changed how he saw himself.
Dr Linklater, Former Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Roxburghe House
‘So where is that? Have you been there?’
The one I remember most vividly was this old chap who had never done a picture before, and he painted this incredible picture of a man with a chisel and a mallet and a stripy waistcoat. And it was only when he’d done it that staff realised he’d been a stonemason as a young man. The stripy waistcoat was because the stonemasons used to made waistcoats out of rags to protect them from the pinging stones. That conversation would never have happened without the painting and it changed the view of the man. And being seen differently by staff also changed how he saw himself.
Dr Linklater, Former Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Roxburghe House
The Friends of Roxburghe House believed in Artroom from the start. Their support has allowed the project to root itself and flourish and they continue, with NHS Grampian Endowments, to co-fund it. The project also owes its success to support and encouragement from Roxburghe House clinical staff, to the team at GHAT and, most of all, to project participants, who bring it alive by taking part.