Simon Woolham has began his Art Work Placement with St Andrew’s Healthcare, Northampton.
St Andrew’s Healthcare is a charity providing specialist mental healthcare for patients with some of the most complex, challenging mental health needs in the UK. Simon Woolham unearths the unpredictable and fragile process of memory through biro drawings, animation, video and text.
Simon is initially inviting staff to explore and map the interior and exterior spaces and surfaces of St Andrew’s through graphite rubbings, which he will then incorporate into a large wall based collage. As the staff observe and comment on the semi architectural features and pathways in the collage, along with its different textures and spaces, a reflective conversation is initiated around why the staff came to work at St Andrews and their associations with some of its more distinctive locations and specialist facilities.
Liz Jackson, Senior HR Project Manager for St Andrew’s Healthcare, commented:
“The initial artwork Simon has created with many of our employees has generated a lot of interest, and involvement and has already started to open up new conversations with our employees about what it means to work for St Andrew’s and how we could improve this. We are looking forward to investigating these key relationships between employees and our workplace in the remaining stages of this project.”
Director of Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, Yasmin Canvin, added,
“We are delighted to have had such a positive and enthusiastic reaction to Art Work Placement from businesses across the County. Artists are specialists in helping us to see the world differently and looking between the lines, so the expectation is that artists working in these organisation can help unlock further innovation and creativity”.
The programme is inspired by Fermynwoods’ aim to ensure that art infiltrates every day life and by the belief, shared by their business partners, that the arts and culture an essential part of making Northamptonshire a great place to live, work, play and learn.
