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Description: The Boardroom
Location: Leeds General Infirmary, UK
Artist: Lisa Watts
Overview
The Boardroom is a panoramic, digitally compiled, colour
photograph showing members of the Property and Support Services
(PSS) support staff involved in some of the essential roles they
perform for the Trust, set within the Infirmary’s Boardroom.
This large image was created by a group of PSS support staff who
volunteered to work on the project. Performance and media artist,
Lisa Watts facilitated the project, assisting the group to create,
discuss and develop their image making skills. A wide variety
of media including visual performance, video and digital image
manipulation aided their progress in decision-making skills. The
project took 18 months from planning to completion and resulted
in a 4.5m x 2.5m picture which is permanently installed by the
lifts on the ground floor in the Jubilee Building of Leeds General
Infirmary (LGI). The project was set up and supported by Arts
in Healthcare, now called Tonic, the arts and environments programme
for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Staff Morale
The starting point of the project was in early 1998 at a meeting
of the Property and Support Services managers, attended also by
Gail Bolland, the Arts and Environment Co-ordinator, at which
the high turnover and low morale of support staff, and the difficulties
in recruiting new staff were discussed. Gail was reminded of a
project in New York where Mierle Laderman Ukeles had become the
artist-in-residence at the City’s Sanitation Department.
Working with the refuse collectors on a number of arts projects,
Ukeles had enabled both them and the public to acknowledge the
valuable work of the Department, raising the self-esteem and morale
of the workers. Gail Bolland proposed an arts project as a means
of addressing the issue of low morale amongst PSS support staff
at LGI. The idea was welcomed as an ideal way for PSS to mark
the 50th anniversary of the NHS. The project was supported at
the highest level within the hospital management and line managers
in PSS were encouraged to give it their active support.
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Artist’s Brief
Lisa Watts, a performance and visual artist who has an interest
in facilitating art projects within a social context, was identified
by the Arts Co-ordinator who had heard her speaking about her
work. After an interview with the hospital management which discussed
her previous work and her approach to working with groups, she
was invited to facilitate a project with support staff at the
Infirmary. The artist’s brief outlined the objectives of
the project to give greater prominence to support staff within
the hospital, to raise their self esteem and highlight their important
role in supporting the more visible medical staff, and to produce
a permanent work for the Jubilee Building. The project budget
was set at £8,500. As the project progressed, it became
clear that more time was needed for the group to develop a presentation
of work. With the agreement of the Steering Group, the project
ran for longer and went over budget to £10,500.
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Project Group
PSS support staff were invited to take part in the project and
a group of nine volunteers from Domestic, Portering, Laundry,
Catering and Gardening Services was formed. They were released
from their duties for 2 hour arts sessions with Lisa Watts every
Friday afternoon over a five month period. The project was a collaborative
process between Lisa Watts and the group in that she brought along
her skills in making art and images, and the group provided discussions
and ideas about working in the hospital and their particular jobs.
The group drew up their own ground rules to enable a democracy
to operate. This aided their learning in the processes of, and
confidence in, making images, representations and finished art
products, with the use of digital lens-based media. In the final
stages of the project, the focus of the work became the intention
to portray the group’s imagination and wit as a sign of
intelligence, in a place of status - the Boardroom. The final
work involved imagery such as: a portrait of a past trustee holding
an NHS cleaning bucket; flowers planted in the cracks of the Boardroom
table; a member of support staff mounted as a hunting trophy;
a ceremonial arch of mops; and tiny wheelchairs zooming out of
the Boardroom fireplace.
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The Image
This was an unusual public art project in that at the beginning
of it, neither the group nor Lisa Watts had any idea what the
final work would be or would look like. The project was not prescribed
with an artistic vision, led by the artist, in which the hospital
workers participated only to fulfil her vision. It was approached
as a collaborative process and with an openness to possibilities
in which both parties learnt about each others’ professional
knowledge and skills.
Some of the early images were exhibited to
coincide with the 50th anniversary of the NHS in July 1998. This
display and a special edition of the Property and Support Services
‘Heard the News’ newsletter helped give a high profile
to the project within the hospital whilst it was going on. The
Boardroom hangs in a prominent location by the lifts in the
Jubilee Wing where it is seen by hundreds of people daily, and
has a text panel beside it explaining how the work was made and
who was involved.
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Evaluation
The project was evaluated from the perspective of those who took
part and through responses to the work of hospital staff and visitors.
A review meeting with the group on their last session produced
very positive feedback. They said that they had enjoyed working
as a team with other Support Services departments and learning
what the jobs of others entail, and they felt that the final work
successfully celebrates the hidden hands of the NHS. A survey
of 70 interviews with people passing by the large photograph display
was carried out by the Arts Co-ordinator using a standard questionnaire.
This showed that most had noticed the art work and that two thirds
felt that it had succeeded in its aim of depicting different types
of Support Services jobs. There was a mixed response to whether
the piece improved understanding of the role of PSS support staff
within the NHS; visitors felt it did improve understanding, but
only about 20% of staff agreed. There was however overwhelming
agreement that the arts can address issues of awareness and that
more projects of this kind should take place.
© Copyright Joanna Morland 2000
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Archive: Case Study: Leeds General Infirmary