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We caught up with artist Phoebe Kaniewska at the end of her artist residency at St George’s Hospital to share the activities she has delivered and experiences she has had on our wards.

Tell us a bit about you and your work

I’m a multidisciplinary, socially engaged artist from South London. I have been working in healthcare since 2015, which has informed my practice greatly. I have been working in arts and health since 2019 and have found it’s such a wonderful balance between creativity and working with a brilliant community of people.

I really enjoy working with tactile mediums, such as clay, ink, tin and wax and using art as a therapeutic medium, for both myself and those I’m working with. I also make jewellery: I love using art to express and tell stories, as jewellery so often does. I absolutely love working in hospitals as a Resident Artist, every day is so different.

“The calmest I've ever felt at work! Thankyou Phoebe” Staff Member Feedback

What activities have you been running at St George’s and which have been most popular?

I’ve been facilitating a range of different activities, as the wards are so varied. For staff, I have been delivering some mindful activities, such as making polish folk-inspired paper cuts, and decorations out of tomato paste tubes. These have been so lovely to deliver, especially using recycled materials.

Printmaking has been a really popular medium on the neurorehabilitation ward and in the hospital school. It has been so lovely to see participants’ printmaking skills develop and grow over time, making some really beautiful and ambitious prints!

“Access to these types of activity definitely has such a positive impact . Great to have alternative things to academic activity. Every child can participate in Arts & Crafts” Patient Feedback

What inspires you when planning activities for the community at St George’s?

When I’m planning an activity, I want to create something that is as accessible and inclusive as possible, making sure to plan adjustments depending on the patients’ needs. I want to deliver something creative, exciting and something that inspires conversation or storytelling.

Visual art is such a brilliant medium to express our identity, our feelings and our experiences so I aim to plan an activity that can do just those things. I have also been inspired by the St George’s Art and Heritage Collection, taking sculptures and paintings on the grounds of the hospital as inspiration for activities.

“Thank you excellent, amazing art works giving positive and inspiration to all especially patients” Staff Member Feedback

Have you got any favourite moments?

I’ve had so many beautiful moments while working at St George’s, it’s had to choose just one! So many patients wanted to attend a workshop I led on the neurorehabilitation ward that we had to bring in an extra table and everyone got into the rhythm of making beautiful nature-inspired prints.

Despite everyone’s challenges, all the patients made absolutely incredible prints that they were so proud of. One patient said “I’ve really surprised myself, I didn’t know I could do that!”. It is truly amazing to see patients so proud of themselves and excited about their own abilities, even if they have challenges with their health. It is a privilege to be a part of!

Having completed her artist residency at St George’s Hospital, Phoebe is now a Visiting Artist at our hospitals, and we are looking forward to some more workshops she will be running for groups of patients and staff in the winter.

If you would like to arrange a visual arts workshop for patients or staff in your department, please email arts@stgeorges.nhs.uk and we will do our best to accommodate this.

We would like to thank The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust for their generous donation towards our St George’s Resident Artist Programme.

The Resident Artist initiative is produced by Arts St George’s, part of St George’s Hospital Charity. For more information, please see here.

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