Art in the National Health Service : a report / by the DHSS.

  • Department of Health and Social Security
Date:
[1984?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Art in the National Health Service : a report / by the DHSS. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The capacity to respond to requests for assistance is determined by the availabil- ity of funds in any financial year and all offers are subject to the Regional Arts Association’s recommendation of the proposal. In the current financial year, Art in Public Places has revenue of over £130,000 although much of this is already com- mitted through schemes submitted by RAAs. Over the past 2) years an estimated £40-£50,000 has been used for projects involving health buildings under this scheme. Priority is generally given to opportunities afforded by new building projects although it is recognised that many requests will relate to empty walls and spaces of existing buildings. In this context, special consideration is given to such build- ings as hospitals, schools, libraries etc. _ The appropriate RAA should always be consulted prior to any formal application being made. Most RAAs hold information on artists working in their particular areas and a central information source is provided by the Arts Council’s Long Acre Index. Applicants are encouraged to make use of these services, but to qualify for assistance under the scheme it is not a condition that an artist be rep- resented in the Long Acre Index or an RAA register. In all cases, the recommendation of a grant will be conditional on the RAA being satisfied with the quality of the work proposed. When an opportunity is offered through open or limited competition, the RAA will be expected to be represented on the selection panel. The beneficiary of any grant will be expected to take responsibility for the maintenance of work commissioned or purchased through the scheme. The success of the Art in Public Places scheme owes much to the Art Officer of the Arts Council, Alister Warman, responsible for its running. It has been particu- larly exploited by hospitals in the East Midlands (Trent) region, following the appointment on a freelance basis under the scheme of Edna Read, director of the City Gallery Arts Trust in Milton Keynes. Edna Read was asked to extend her con- tact with hospitals in the East Midlands to encourage applications under the Art in Public Places scheme. A similar ‘agency has been set up through Eastern Arts Association, where Isabel Vasseur has been appointed to promote the idea of commissions and purchases by public and private organisations and to extend the use of the Eastern Arts Association’s loan scheme in these places. In the Northern Region, Lucy Milton has recently been appointed under a similar _ scheme and has, within a month or so, already found a hospital (Preston Hospital in North Shields in the North Tyneside Health Authority) to commission an artist's placement for six months. Naturally, the working of the Art in Public Places schemes depends on the availa- bility of funds from other sources and this can prove a major stumbling-block. Hospital Leagues of Friends, Endowment Funds and the WRVS often contribute the necessary sums, but having contributed to one scheme, may not feel able to do so on a subsequent occasion. At the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, the Hospital Administrator, Glyn Purland has an annual fund-raising drive for the purchase of works of art and finds that the Art in Public Places scheme acts as an effective incentive for funding bodies to contribute. 1]
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