Artist Brief (November 2017)

Artists’ project budget:£2,400

  1. Introduction

London Arts in Health Forum is collaborating with MerseyCare NHS Foundation Trust to create a new tool to support people immediately after a diagnosis of dementia. The aim is to commission a visual artist to create an image-based reference point which will help people to map the positive aspects of their lives and to record, using visual means, the positive aspects of their lives.

London Arts in Health Forum brings together the arts, health and wellbeing. It is part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio and delivers support for artists, an annual festival (Creativity and Wellbeing) and delivers a range of projects and activity designed to showcase the ways the arts can improve health and care.

MerseyCare currently delivers a programme of post diagnostic support sessions for people on receipt of a diagnosis of a dementia. This innovative programme provides information, signposting and support for people and their families and also offers the opportunity for people to meet others with a dementia diagnosis and to begin to plan their life living with dementia.

The collaboration between LAHF and MerseyCare has developed through a Creative Healthcare Hub, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and delivered by the University of the West of England in collaboration with the Royal College of Art and the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology. In recent years a growing understanding has developed of the ways in which the arts can improve and impact on the delivery of health and care and on people’s relationship with their own health and wellbeing. A good source of more information on this can be found in the recently published All Party Parliamentary Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing report Creative Health - available here:

  1. The brief

London Arts in Health Forum would like to appoint an artist to design a tool which people can use to map and explore the things in their lives which are positive, helpful and supportive - their strengths or assets.

Often when confronted with a diagnosis of dementia, people struggle to see the positive aspects of their lives. They can be prone to experience depression, isolation and a sense that their life is over. While acknowledging that news of a diagnosis is challenging, programmes like MerseyCare’s post diagnostic support sessions are designed to offer a more rounded perspective on how to live positively with a diagnosis.

This commission offers an artist the opportunity to spend time shadowing Mersey Care’s existing post diagnostic support sessions and to then devise a tool for use in the sessions to help people to acknowledge the social and community assets in their lives. The aim of the tool is to shift the paradigm from one where diagnosis is deficit based to one which notes and reminds people of the assets they enjoy. The visual tool (which may be anything from a drawing to a digital application) can be utilised at different points over time to support people in recognizing the positive things in their lives, helping them to recognize their strengths and assets.

We are calling the commission the Arts-based Asset Audit Tool.

The final tool will be a visually engaging (arts based) prompt for people to consider what is good in their lives (this might include their support networks, friends, family, social groups, etc but also other positives - pets, a garden, hobbies, local groups, access to nature, local resources - library, pub, museum, online resources, educational resources, etc). It will be something people can take time to enjoy, it will raise questions and demand answers. We imagine people will interact with it and in doing so be playfully encouraged to think about the things in their lives (the assets) which offer them hope, joy and support. It will encourage them to make a note of these (the audit) and to note these in a way which means they can refer back to, or share with others.Through the process, the artist will be encouraged to engage with different people with lived experience of dementia both for themselves and as carers, along with clinicians, volunteers and wider community members.

Artists will be expected to develop ideas in collaboration with LAHF and MerseyCare. We imagine the tool will be co-created with people living with dementia, they will be at the heart of the commission, making suggestions and helping in the design of the final artwork. Artists will need to be open to this input and flexible in the development of ideas. In addition, artists will need to consider the entire population of people who might and do receive a diagnosis of dementia.It is intended to commission an artist/s who can demonstrate a passion and enthusiasm for engaging people in innovative ways. The tool needs to be pleasurable, engaging and not patronising. Its aim is to prompt people to think, to play a part in turning a negative moment into one which helps regain positivity in people’s lives.

  1. Role of the Artist

The artist should be open to, and keen on, collaboration and discussion and should understand and be interested in the different requirements and demands of working on a project of this nature. There is a major social component to this commission; the artist(s) should feel that they can apply themselves to thinking about the concerns of people who have recently received a diagnosis of dementia and should bear in mind the diverse communities that MerseyCare serves. A sensitive and considered approach to engaging with people living with dementia, their families and staff will be crucial to the successful completion of this brief.

The Artist will:

Consult with staff, patients and families about appropriate approaches

Sit in on regular sessions to gain an understanding of what might support people

Visit and meet key clinicians and service users to hear perspectives on what might work well

Be guided by LAHF as to the technical requirements of the final artwork

Present ideas to key staff and people living with dementia and their families

Test a prototype of the tool

Absorb feedback and deliver a refined version of the tool

  1. Budget

LAHF has a budget of £2,400 for the commission. This should cover the process, design and creation of the artwork as well as artist time and days spent consulting. All consultation will take place in Liverpool. In addition there is a limited budget for travel and for producing tests of the tool.

  1. Timescale

9/11/17 / Artist brief circulated
4/12/17 / Deadline for receipt of expressions of interest
8/12/17 / Artist interviews (Skype) artist appointed
December - January / Visits and consultation, drafting of initial ideas
12/1/18 / First draft of artist asset audit tool
15/1/18 / Feedback to artist and revisions
15/1/18 / Testing of prototype with participants
1/2/18 / Tool finalised and applied in sessions
February / Sign off
  1. Submission

Artists interested in being considered for this project should submit the following information to Damian Hebron by midday on December 4th 2017

Curriculum Vitae - showing experience of engaging with the public and of creating visually engaging work

Details of two referees

Documentation of previous work preferably via J-Peg (no more than 3 images) or by a link to a website.

A commitment on the part of the artist to meet the timescale set out above, including availability to visit Liverpool during December 2017 and January 2018.

We commit to responding to all expressions of interest received. We will review submissions and shortlist appropriate candidates to interview via Skype/telephone.

  1. Further information

Damian Hebron, LAHF Director

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