Catriona Smith, Alban Low, Jeff Hunter and Sam M Harley - Art of Caring 2020

Welcome to the Art of Caring 2020. Today we introduce the work of 4 artists who have contributed work to this year's exhibition.... Catriona Smith, Alban Low, Jeff Hunter and Sam M Harley. The Art of Caring is an annual inclusive international art exhibition celebrating Nurses, Midwives, Carers, and the NHS. Thank you to the School of Nursing at Kingston University for their support.

Alban Low
"It has been heartening the way that so many people have cared for each other during the pandemic. We have all made sacrifices that will never be acknowledged."

Alban Low is involved in many creative projects, these include album artwork, publishing chapbooks, making films, maps, conceptual exhibitions, live performance and good old drawing. He is artist-in-residence at the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education at Kingston University and St George's University of London. Low spends his evenings in the jazz clubs of London where he captures the exhilaration of live performances in his sketchbook. On Wednesday evenings he sketches the performers on the radio show A World in London at Resonance FM. During the 2020 Lockdown he made his first radio programme, The All Vinyl A to Z of Africa.
http://albanlow.com/

Catriona Smith
"Thank you so much for all that you have done during this pandemic, for everything you did before and for the many you will continue to help after this. I truly hope  that Nurses and Carers will finally get the recognition, respect and financial support they deserve after this."

Catriona Smith is a Glasgow-based multimedia artist who creates a range of work using different mediums such as photography, performance, comedy, spoken word,
 events and scriptwriting.  She believes in the importance of play and experimentation and loves finding new ways to present creatively what she wants to articulate. The work she does looks to include and engage her audience, bringing people together, inspiring
 positive emotional and social change.
minischmidtproductions.com

Jeff Hunter

Sam M Harley

Art of Caring opens at St Pancras Hospital

It was a wonderful evening at the St Pancras Hospital gallery when we launched our fifth ART OF CARING exhibition. A lovely balmy evening brought out a big crowd of art lovers who spilled out into the St Pancras courtyard. The evening was launched by a fantastic passionate speech from St Pancras/CANDI CEO Angela McNab followed by Professor Karen Norman from Kingston University. She presented a well deserved award to the winner of the Art of Caring Writing Competition, Bola Lafe. Then we were treated to fabulous entertainment from Matt Grabham and his magic subterranean violin, Paul Destry with two soul searching blues numbers and our headliner Lucinda Sieger who performed with professional sparkle and joy and captivated our audience with 3 of her key hit songs.

Many thanks to all the artists supporting us who came with family and friends. Reaction to the artwork is strong and positive .Watch out for the premiere of Anna Bowman's new film about the exhibition on our closing night 4/10/19. 

Thank you to the continued support from The Nursing school at Kingston University and Peter Herbert and his team at St Pancras. This is truly a magical exhibition.

If you would like to see a larger selection of photos then follow this link - https://photos.app.goo.gl/19TmbhuMmTXFFvuL8

Art of Caring 2019 opens at St George's Hospital

The Art of Caring opened today at St George's Hospital in Tooting, London. It features over 250 artworks and wool words on the subject of Care and Caring. The exhibition, now in its 5th year, helps celebrate International Nurses Day on the 12th May. This year’s theme is ‘Health for All’. It includes the work of creative people of all ages, from artists to nurses, and from people who have experience of being a carer  and/or a service user.

You can find the exhibition on the First Floor, Lanesborough Wing, (Outside Ingredients Restaurant) at St George’s Hospital, London, SW17 0QT. The work will be on the walls from 10th May - 14th June 2019 so please come along and have a look. You can find all the artists exhibiting on our ARTISTS page.

You can view more photos HERE.

This year we asked nursing students at Kingston University and St George's University of London to come up with one word that they felt reflected the inspirational work done by the charity Nurse Reaching Out. They wrote their chosen word in wool, in their chosen language, reflecting the diversity of the students and the charity - reflecting  this years International Nurse Day theme: a truly inclusive “Health For All.”

Nurse Reaching Out founder Michelle Grainger visited Uganda in 2007 with colleagues and was moved to do something more after seeing how pregnant women were unable to access the hospital care they needed unless they bought their own soap, string and a razor - which they couldn’t afford. NRO now provides these items in their maternity packs and the maternal death rate has fallen as a result. They also joined forces with the "Fish and chip baby’ initiative - a term coined after babies born in the poorest areas of Africa were found wrapped in newspaper to keep warm. The mother’s had no clothes for their tiny newborns,  leaving hospital with them still wrapped in the newspaper and with reduced hopes of survival. A network was established by Michelle that utilises the knitting skills of volunteers from around the UK and beyond. NRO now sends these knitted items to Ugandan health care colleagues for those Mum’s and babies in need.  www.nursesreachingout.org

Thank you to Bryan Benge, Alban Low, Dean Reddick and Jackie Belle who helped install the exhibition. Thank you to all the staff at St George's who have already sent us messages of support.

Kindly supported by Kingston University and St George's,  University of London

Art of Caring documentary film 2018

Thank you to everyone who made this year's Art of Caring such a success. We closed the exhibition last week at St Pancras Hospital with a screening of Anna Bowman's wonderful film. The Art of Caring is a special exhibition, its inclusive ideals represent the special contribution that artists, nurses, carers and the NHS bring to our communities.

The film includes Interviews with artists and music and entertainment from the Opening Night of The Art of Caring exhibition at St Pancras Hospital's Gallery. For the last three years Peter Herbert, the Gallery's Curator and Manager, and his team have worked with artist and curator Alban Low to create a unique exhibition celebrating nursing and the NHS. The St Pancras exhibition builds on Alban Low's open submission and exhibition of postcards of art work, shown at St George's Hospital, Tooting. Artists interviewed in the film include Chris Bird, Sara Bowman, Peter Herbert, Alban Low, Chloe Wing, Susie Mendelsson, Elaine Harper-Gay, residents at Stacey Street Nursing Home, Danny Mooney and Lily Mooney. Opening Night music by Bee Ororo, Camden and Islington NHS Choir and Lucinda Sieger

Art of Caring at St Pancras Hospital (until 18th October 2018)

The ART OF CARING exhibition opened with strength and passion with more than 150 guests greeting the unveiling of consistently strong artworks at St Pancras Hospital. On show was original work from 30 artists as well as postcard art from around 100 worldwide artists.

The Art of Caring has grown over its 3 years at St Pancras and is now one of the cornerstones of the gallery's exciting yearly schedule. 2018 offered us a glimpse of political awareness and tender moments of reflection. Elaine Harper Gay's triptych of pencil drawings reflecting on the powerful faces of the men who shape our global health. Contrasts this with the work of our youngest artist Lily Mooney who drew inspiration from the power of mermaids, and you'll understand what a brilliantly eclectic exhibition this is. 

On the stage we heard the voices of the C&I NHS Choir who sung beautiful songs including the seminal Lean On Me. Our guest singers Lucinda Sieger and Bee Ororo  wowed the audience with songs of love and hope including a rousing Tom Waites cover song. Guest speakers were Caroline Harris-Birtles, Andrew Machin and Paul Newcombe. Another lively, entertaining and inspired opening night in the gallery. 

Please do visit this wonderful collection of art. The exhibition runs Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm until Thursday 18/10/18 when the evening will include the premiere screening of Anna Bowman's new short film about the Art Of Caring. And remember to check out our suspended and mobile tennis installation Anyone for tennis? with sketches of players by Alban Low. You'll want to pick up a racquet and throw a ball or two in the air.

For more photos please click HERE.

The Art of Caring celebrates International Nurses Day 2018

Today we celebrated International Nurses Day at the Art of Caring exhibition in St George's Hospital, Tooting, London, UK. The exhibition looked fabulous on the walls, and we had plenty of visitors stop to take a look. The postcard artworks have been exhibited together in small groups, while the haikus and aphorisms are written on placards carried by small figures underneath.

The Art of Caring received 330 submissions on the subject of Care and Caring from more than 170 artists. Much of the work was influenced by this year’s International Nurses Day theme ‘Health is a Human Right’.

Today the Chief Nursing Officer for England, Professor Jane Cummings, thanked all nurses for their significant contribution in providing safe, effective, compassionate care for patients and those they care for.

"It fills me with pride when I see the fantastic work and world class care provided by nurses across the country and International Nurses Day (IND) is the perfect opportunity to recognise their amazing contribution to health and care globally."

You can see the Art of Caring exhibition outside Ingredients Restaurant, First Floor, Lanesborough Wing, St George's Hospital until the 30th May 2018. The restaurant has over 12,000 visitors a week so I'm sure you'll be rubbing shoulders with nurses, doctors, porters, and patients as you view the artwork.

A portfolio of images from the Art of Caring exhibition at St George's Hospital can be viewed HERE.

Bryan Benge

Thank you Bryan Benge, Alban Low and Anna Bowman for setting up the exhibition on the 10th May.

Art and Aphorism Prizes at Art of Caring 2018

Alban Low at Kingston University 09/02/2018

International Nurses Day 2018
Nurses: A Voice to Lead: Health is a Human Right

The 2018 ‘Art of Caring’ exhibition got off to a great start on 9 February, with over 200 nursing students tapping into their creative juices to produce great art and inspirational writing: all freshly squeezed from a half hour workshop led by Alban Low, Kingston University Artist in Residence. Alban painted his own artwork live on stage to mark the theme of this years International Nurses day: Nurses: A Voice to Lead: Health is a Human Right.

Alban was joined by Prof Karen Norman, who opened this years writing competition, and invited participants to create an ‘aphorism' on the same theme. Karen explained that the word ‘aphorism’ historically referred to the medical rules written by Hippocrates. Nowadays, it’s defined ‘a concise expression of doctrine or principle of any generally accepted truth conveyed in a pithy, memorable statement.’ (Or, as Karen said, a more pithy definition might be ‘pearls of knowledge.’) A good example is Florence Nightingale’s famous aphorism: ‘Hospitals should do the sick no harm.’

Students were asked to:
1)Pick a topic for their aphorism, which fitted in with the theme: Nurses: A Voice to Lead: Health is a Human Right

2) Identify the audience for their ‘pearl of knowledge.’ (which might include patients, peers, managers, policy makers, loved ones)

3) Compose a one-line aphorism

All entries to the art and aphorism competition received by 6th April 2018 will be judged by a panel of student nurses from the Kingston University Nursing Society. £50 prizes will be awarded for the best artwork and the best aphorism.

All entries will be displayed at the Art of Caring exhibition at St George's Hospital (10th-30th May 2018). Both competitions are open to all-so what are you waiting for?

If you would like to enter the competition and exhibition then send your images and/or aphorisms to collectconnect4@gmail.com by 6th April 2018 and you might win a £50 prize!