The artist’s experience: Art sessions with inpatients and staff at The Maudsley Hospital

Art can humanize a clinical healthcare system and encourage us to see people as whole. The social and therapeutic benefits of art programmes in healthcare settings have been well documented, and evidence now exists to justify public spending. Such programmes, increasingly multi-disciplined collaborations, rely on effective partnerships that value mutual understanding and respect for the unique strengths of all partners. To date, the perspective of patients, health care staff, arts organizations and policy-makers is widely reported in literature. But the artist’s ‘voice’ is missing from the conversation. Countering health’s predominantly instrumental relationship with art, where projects are discussed solely in terms of health or social outcomes, I document my experience of facilitating art sessions with staff and inpatients at the Maudsley Hospital.