A group of art students from Oxford Brookes University have been lending their creative talents to the Warneford 200 exhibition and new therapy garden.
Foundation Art students have been working with the Oxford Health Arts Partnership to bring patient case files from the hospital archives to life. Having seen the first Warneford 200 exhibition at the Museum of Oxford, the students were given access to a set of patient case files and asked to respond to them visually.
Their responses, ranging from intricate drawings and collages to textile-based pieces, reflect imagined moments from the lives of former patients and staff during the hospital’s early years.
Their artwork is now being showcased at the Warneford 200 exhibition at Oxford Brookes University’s Glass Tank this April.
Tom Cox, Artscape Project Manager for Oxford Health, said: “The results have been really interesting. The students imagined what life was like for people in the early days of the Warneford and started to illustrate some wonderful ideas. Thank you to all the students who have helped bring our hospital archives to life.”
Meanwhile, second year art students have designed a series of signs for the new therapy garden that has been constructed in the Warneford grounds.
Each sign sits within a planter, sharing the story of who created it and describing the plants it contains. Students have produced original illustrations and have used the university’s specialist workshops to fabricate the final pieces.
Their work now features in the therapy garden and copies are also displayed in the Glass Tank exhibition, which is free to enter and runs until 17 April.
Laura McCarty, Green Spaces Coordinator for Oxford Health, said: “The signage produced by the students has been fantastic and they complement our new planters really well.
“In producing their artwork, the students also gained new knowledge of the history of the Warneford Hospital and the benefits of green spaces for mental health wellbeing.”
A big thank you to all the students for bringing your creativity to Warneford 200!
