An engaging new wall within the children’s emergency department at St George’s Hospital, Tooting, has brightened up a long corridor previously painted white that families and children had found ‘daunting’.
London-based artist, Donna Wilson, who created the ‘Friendly Forest’ frieze, said: “The work needed to be uplifting for kids of all ages. We lined the wall with curious-looking trees, in which various creatures – a smiling cat, a family of hand-drawn koalas, a lime green snail, and even a bear in boots – live. We wanted to bring smiles to faces passing through the corridor in often stressful circumstances.” The initiative was led by Belinda Harward, arts director at St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, and funded by Arts St George’s, who are supported by St George’s Hospital Charity. She said: “Over 37,000 children attend the emergency department every year. Many are agitated, and find it difficult to concentrate on anything for long, and, because the youngest children cannot explain their symptoms, parents will also be anxious.” Bradford-based New Vision Signs & Graphics, which worked on a similar project at Bradford Royal Infirmary last year to redevelop two wards utilising design and artwork to improve the environment for acute elderly care patients, supplied and installed the precision cut self-adhesive vinyl. Experience dictated that the wall artwork be mounted on coloured vinyl, a medium already approved for cleaning, infection control, and building maintenance.
