The ‘Art meets books’ project is a partnership between Paintings in Hospitals (PiH) and public libraries in four communities in London (Eltham and Woolwich) and the West Midlands (Dudley and Gornal). Libraries play an important role in building networks and supporting socio-economically disadvantaged communities.

These reports evaluate participants' experiences with the project and its potential benefits. 

West Midlands

In the West Midlands, 49 people were invited to participate in:

- two co-curation sessions to select artworks and explore these verbally and visually with art responses.
- four sessions with art workers to develop their poetry, creative writing and story-making skills and integrate an art response.
- An exhibition of their artworks in the library.

Data analysis shows that the project succeeded in including an ethnically diverse group of participants, many of whom had no previous connections to art galleries or museums, and little experience in artmaking. It also provided much-needed social connections for people who felt isolated and displaced. The participants felt comfortable in the library environment, and this was key to their engagement in discussions on artworks, artmaking, poetry, creative writing, and storytelling. Excellent teamwork between PiH, library staff, and art workers underpinned the success of the project. 

The PiH’s project leads adopted a co-production approach to the co-curation sessions, and this was essential in making the participants feel supported and valued, as was the public display in the library at the end of the project of their artworks. PiH project leads, library staff and art workers were offered two pre-project training sessions with an art therapist to address basic mental health awareness and introduce art therapy skills. This supported a reflexive approach which, together with the project leads’ knowledge of the PiH collection and artists, and the quality of the artworks were unique to this project and supported participants’ depth of engagement. This was evidenced by attendance rates, participants’ feedback on their learning and enjoyment of the sessions, and the quality of their creative outputs.

London

Participants in Eltham were children from the local Primary School and this report evaluates their experiences of the project and its potential benefits (the report on the other sites has been done separately as it involved adult participants). Twenty-three children participated in:
- two co-curation sessions to select artworks and explore these verbally and visually with art responses.
- Four sessions with a storyteller to develop their story-making skills and integrate an art response.
- An exhibition of their artworks in the library.

Data analysis showed that the children group was ethnically representative of their community and that most had no experience of visiting art galleries and museums, which is often the case within lower socio-economic groups. However, the children had a keen interest in their own artmaking and felt that art supported their wellbeing, and they relished the opportunity to join in a project connected to art. This underlines the importance of providing children from lower socio-economic groups with access to the arts.
The children felt comfortable in the library environment, and with support, fully engaged in discussions on artworks, art responses, and storytelling. Excellent teamwork between PiH, library and school staff also underpinned the success of the project. A co-production approach from the PiH’s project leads and storyteller was essential in making the children feel supported and valued, as was the public display in the library at the end of the project of their artworks and feedback.

PiH project leads, library staff and art workers were offered two pre-project training sessions with an art therapist to address basic mental health awareness and introduce art therapy skills. This was particularly useful as an emerging issue concerned the long-term impact of the pandemic on children’s communication and relational skills. Findings in this report echo those of recent studies identifying this issue as an ongoing concern and participatory arts have a major role to play in supporting children in a post-pandemic world.
Areas that can be improved in future projects included providing longer sessions to enable enough time to deliver the different aspects of each session and to ensure that artmaking remains a significant element. The ‘Art meets books’ project provided an intervention that can make a significant positive contribution to children’s communication skills and wellbeing. Most importantly, the children felt valued and profoundly enjoyed being part of the project.

Download the reports below: 

evaluationreportonartmeetsbooksdudleygornalwoolwich(1).pdf

evaluationreportonartmeetsbooksprojectwithchildrenineltham.pdf