Out and about in Edinburgh!

Arran Goodfellow, Policy and Engagement Officer

This month’s out and about was a bit more local than previous months. So local in fact, the chosen organisation, Art in Healthcare, are based in the same office (and floor) as PAS! Those who have heard Amy or me talking about the large, bare, magnolia walls of PAS will know our office was in need of some sprucing – which Art in Healthcare went above and beyond to do for us. Thanks to them, we now have three carefully curated pieces of art up in the office which have transformed the space.

We met with Iona McCann, Associate Director (Communities), who gave us some insight of the work they do. Art in Healthcare has been around for over 30 years and focuses on using art to improve health and wellbeing in health care and social care settings. The organisation originally sat within Paintings in Hospitals, but in 2005, it become an independent Scottish charity under the name ‘Art in Healthcare’.

There are two main aspects of their work – the first being the collections they currently hold of modern and contemporary art which is curated with the purpose of making people feel better. It is from this collection that we received three pieces of art from Scottish artist, Emily Learmont featured below:

 The image of the left displays the painting named 'Lulworth'. The image on the right shows the painting named 'The Christening Party' - both by Emily Learmont.

Another aspect of their work is outreach where they run several workshop programmes to get people involved in art and to help their health and wellbeing. Some of the programmes within Edinburgh and Lothian include:

•         Room for Art
•         Caring Spaces
•         Taking Art Home

These projects cover a range of support for different groups including unpaid carers, those with other long-term health conditions. The Taking Art Home programme is an art group delivered over zoom which was started for those with long-covid but has since opened to others with long-term conditions who may struggle to leave the house. You can read more about it, along with their other workshop programmes here: https://www.artinhealthcare.org.uk/art-workshops/

You can find out more about their work on their website: https://www.artinhealthcare.org.uk/