Delegates at the Joint SSN Conference ‘Why Exhibitions?’, 21-22 February 2018 © The National Gallery

The three Subject Specialist Networks, ‘European Paintings pre-1900’, ‘Understanding British Portraits’ and ‘British Art Network’ came together to explore the topic of health, wellbeing and inclusivity in the context of arts and heritage collections. Over a series of three online webinars, these themes were discussed by a panel of arts and healthcare professionals. You can watch a recording of the seminars here.

15th April, 3-5pm: ‘Nothing about us without us - disability, inclusivity and engagement’

Convened by Tony Heaton, Sculptor and Disability Activist

This session explores the intersection between heritage collections, disability and wellbeing. Are disabled makers and visitors reflected in public collections and their programming? Do they have a voice at the table? Are sector professionals responsive to the wellbeing of disabled visitors? Tony Heaton speaks to museum professionals and artists in the first of three online sessions which consider the potential for museum/heritage collections to support and enhance visitor wellbeing.

Tony Heaton OBE is a practicing Sculptor, Chair of Shape Arts and Consultant/Advisor to many major cultural organisations, including: The British Council, Tate and Research Centre for Museums and Galleries. He is the initiator of NDACA- the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2013, for services to the arts and disability arts movement and has an Alumni Award from Lancaster University and honorary Doctorates from both the University of Leicester and the new University Bucks. His sculpture, Gold Lamé, recently occupied The Liverpool Plinth and is currently installed at the Riverside Museum, Glasgow.

Panellists for this session:

• Sonia Boué, Artist

• Paulette Brien, Curator, Grundy Art Gallery

• Alex Cowan, Archivist, Shape Arts

• David Hevey, CEO of Shape Arts

• Aidan Moesby, Artist

• Zoe Partington, Visual Artist and Creative Consultant

• Tanya Raabe-Webber, Artist

• Christopher Samuel, Artist

• Prof Richard Sandell, Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester

• Aminder Virdee, Artist

22nd April, 3-5pm: ‘The Curatorial and the Cultural Encounter in Hospital Contexts’

Convened by Catsou Roberts, Director of Vital Arts, Barts Health NHS Trust

This session explores art and wellbeing in hospital and NHS contexts. Catsou Roberts invites a panel of healthcare and arts specialists to talk about issues involved in delivering an ambitious art programme within clinical environments. Speakers will discuss the motivations for hospitals acquiring and displaying historic art collections as well as commissioning, curating and building collections of contemporary work.

Catsou Roberts is Director of Vital Arts, the charitably funded arts organisation embedded within Barts Health NHS Trust. Previously, she was Senior Curator at Arnolfini from 1999‐2004. Catsou serves in a range of advisory roles and has juried several public realm design competitions, awards and art prizes. She is a long‐standing elected member of the AICA and IKT. She studied Art History at Columbia University and the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and was a Helena Rubinstein Fellow in Museum Studies at the Whitney Independent Study Program.

Panellists for this session:

• Dr Iva Fattorini, former Chair of the Global Arts and Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA

• Daniel Heather, Deputy Archivist Barts Health Archives and Museums

• Peter Liversidge, Artist

29th April, 3-5pm: ‘Arts and culture for health and wellbeing and inclusivity’

Convened by Dr Errol Francis, Artistic Director and CEO of Culture&

This session will explore contemporary practice in using collections to engage marginalised communities to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to health and wellbeing. Practitioners from a variety of perspectives and disciplines will present their work and how they have used visual art, sometimes along with other art forms, to make collections serve a social purpose and be accessible to a wider audience.

Dr Errol Francis is Artistic Director and CEO of Culture&. Errol studied photography and fine art at Central Saint Martin’s. His research at Slade School of Fine Art, focused on postcolonial artistic responses to museums.

Errol was previously programme lead at Arts Council England, head of arts at the Mental Health Foundation and director of the Anxiety Arts Festival 2014 and the Cyborgs 2019 programme at Wellcome Collection.

Errol is content producer for Culture Box, a project at University of Exeter promoting social interaction and public health through the arts for people living with dementia.

Panellists for this session:

• Dr Rob Berkeley MBE, Director, BlackOut UK

• Miranda Lowe, Principal Curator, Natural History Museum

• Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz, Curator, Wellcome Collection

• Professor Victoria Tischler, University of Exeter