Anna Matthams – Contemporary Curating MA, MMU

My interest in arts for health is predominantly due to the large amount of evidence that suggests performing and visual art can help relieve anxiety and stress in the healthcare environment, and assist with recovery. I also hold a personal believe that art can have huge positive effects when taken out of the conventional gallery setting. Being able to get involved in Arts for Health helped me to learn more about this fascinating sector, gain practical experience and channel my knowledge and energy into something I felt passionately about.

I first became involved in Arts for Health when studying for my MA Contemporary Curating at MMU. I worked with them in helping to create an exhibition in the new St. Helen's hospital based on the history of the old hospital. I also helped with the selection process for commissioned artwork in the Whiston Hospital, which helped me to gain knowledge on the commissioning and selection process for contemporary art in hospitals. This experience undoubtedly helped me to get my new job as Arts Assistant for Hospital Arts, part of Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity.

In my current role, I help to devise and run performing and visual arts projects in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. This includes managing gallery spaces within the hospital and co-ordinating lunchtime music performances that take place in the hospital atrium and in the wards and clinics.

Andrea Hamer & Vicki Ormerod – Design Lab MA, MMU

We believe that the way an environment is designed affects how people behave and feel. It has been well understood for some time now that high quality healthcare buildings have a positive impact on our health. People are happier in environments where they feel comfortable and confident; where they can be engaged with their environments while still being able to make sense of them. We believe healthcare environments must be designed so that they connect people to their surroundings in an innovative and intuitive way. Working alongside Arts for Health enabled us to work directly with a real hospital as part of our MA. The Babington Hospital Day Care Unit in Belper, Derbyshire wanted us to create a welcoming, comforting waiting room where people could feel relaxed. Arts for Health have provided us with indispensable guidance and advice to enable us to develop and advance our skills to suit the healthcare environment.

Although we had never worked in the healthcare field before, we found that our interests naturally correlated with that of Arts for Health, and that our work could easily be applied to the given environment. Additional considerations such as suitability, maintenance and health and safety were necessary to take into account and allowed us a challenging project to undertake with Arts for Health. Following their MA, Andrea and Vicki have continued working together as VAnicki, a forward thinking and collaborative design team with a serious commitment to simplicity, quality and innovation. VAnicki's vision is create inspiring environments predominantly across the healthcare sector, as well as working on commercial and residential spaces, offering bespoke design skills.

For more information on VAnicki please email vanicki@hotmail.co.uk

Image of commissioned piece for Babington Hospital Day Care Unit in Belper, Derbyshire

Anne Kellock – PhD, Arts for Health, MMU

Anne completed a BA(hons) in Primary Education with Visual Art and an MSc in Psychology and Counselling, both as a student at MMU. Following six years teaching experience Anne returned to spend four years working with Arts for Health at MMU to complete a fully funded studentship PhD entitled 'Children's Perspectives of Well-Being through Photography'.

Anne has published widely around the Arts and Health field and is now working full time as a Senior Lecturer of Childhood Studies at Sheffield Hallam University.