Northside House
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Hospital Rooms is extending its focus on forensic mental health services in an ambitious new project. We are joining forces with Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) to transform Northside House.
For this project, we are bringing together six acclaimed artists to create museum quality artworks within the unit, with the help of the service users. A series of ambitious and imaginative art workshops led by each of the artists, which will inspire the artworks within the unit, will take place at the unit from December and the installations will be completed by Spring 2021.
Through our partnership with Norwich University of the Arts, we will significantly expand the scope of our evaluation to better understand the value and extent of the impact of Hospital Rooms projects. We can’t wait to share this research with you.
With the ongoing stresses of the pandemic, our services are needed more than ever, and within such a restrictive setting, the benefits can be extraordinary. We are so grateful to all our supporters and collaborators who have enabled this project to take place.
Read through the story of the project here.
Dexter Dalwood
Dexter Dalwood’s collages and paintings have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, building a strong reputation over the last two decades in the UK, Europe, and the United States. In 2010 Dexter Dal- wood was shortlisted for the Turner Prize.
Naomi Harwin
Grounded in process Naomi’s practice observes the relational qualities of objects and forms in correspondence with space. Considering how we organise and interpret visual information, Harwin reflects on how we might comprehend objects through the aid of models and images.
Jade Montserrat
Jade works through performance, drawing, painting, film, installation, sculpture, print and text. Jade is the recipient of the Stuart Hall Foundation Scholarship which supports her PhD, and the development of her work from her black diasporic perspective in the North of England.
Cara Nahaul
Born in London, UK, Cara Nahaul received her MFA in Fine Arts at Parsons The New School For Design in 2014. She was selected for the John Moores Painting Prize in 2018 and 2010. She was nominated for the Contemporary British Painting Prize 2017.
Carl Rowe
Carl is a printmaker and lives and works in Norwich, running the Fine Art course at Norwich University of the Arts. Carl has been included in a number of significant international printmaking shows. He is an artist member of OUTPOST gallery in Norwich.
Richard Wentworth
Richard is intrigued by contingency, how things fit, and how they don’t. His work often tends to emphasize anomalies, the little frictions that point out the collisions between norms. Richard has worked with Hospital Rooms at The Hellingly Centre Medium Secure Unit.
What is a Forensic Mental Health Unit?
Forensic Mental Health Units have a form of double stigma attached to them, as the service users staying here have both severe mental health difficulties and have been in touch with the criminal justice system. Forensic settings support those who have struggled with their mental health prior to a criminal offence, or have become unwell during their time within the justice system. To control risk, these environments are often restrictive and sterile, and arguably, most in need of the transformative artworks created by the artists we work with.
In 2019, we completed a powerful project in a forensic unit in Sussex. Despite extreme restrictions both in terms of compliancy (including infection control, ligature and self-harm risk, durability) and the severity of diagnosis and symptoms of participants (which may include psychosis or delusions), we commissioned, co-produced and installed exceptional quality artwork including an 8.5 m mural by painter Hannah Brown and a 4 x 3m video work by artist Sophie Clements in the unit. Some patients engaged in creative activity for the first time and began to develop a real connection with the arts as a result.
Following this success, we will continue this work at Northside House and, through our partnership with Norwich University of the Arts, significantly expand the scope of our evaluation to better understand the value and extent of the impact of Hospital Rooms projects. This research aims to contribute to a robust evidence base that will eventually inform and influence mental health and criminal justice policy makers.
“You have reached the unreachable.”
-Support Worker, Forensic Mental Health, 2019
“We are delighted that Hospital Rooms and Norwich University of the Arts have chosen to work with us and our service users to create original artwork to further improve the environment at Northside House. We hope that the art will create a warm, welcoming and calming atmosphere for both patients and staff, while helping the unit feel less clinical and more homely. Involving our service users in the project will also give them something positive to focus on and an opportunity to work with leading artists to create a legacy for future patients. We are really looking forward to seeing how the project progresses”
- Ged Pattison, Lead Nurse for Secure and Forensic Services with NSFT
The Northside House project is a collaboration between Hospital Rooms, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and Norwich University of the Arts.We are very grateful for funding that has been generously donated by Arts Council England, Garfield Weston Foundation, Isabella Blow Foundation and Hospital Rooms Friends, Supporters and Donors.
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Ryan Mosley artist screen printed tote bag.
Use less plastic and support Hospital Rooms in one go with this lovely HR tote bag!
Organic cotton. Dimensions 37 x 43 cm
Ryan has worked with Hospital Rooms on multiple projects including Bluebird House, a secure mental health inpatient unit for young people at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Photography by Jennifer Moyes.