The festival is supported by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) and will showcase some of the many arts activities that take place throughout the year at CUH, providing vital support to patients and staff and helping many to relax, move and recover.
Day 1 - Monday 3rd July
First day highlights include The Big Create - staff and patients can grab a free sketchbook and enjoy colour mixing techniques with CUH Create artists, Josh Bilton, Rachel McGivern and Sandra Scott. The team will be running similar sessions on wards in the morning and afternoon.
Day 2 - Tuesday 4th July
Day two features arts in cancer care settings including plans for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. Artist Mia Sylvia and writer Hannah Jane Walker will be leading a nature walk across the campus, staff workshops and a special view of latest exhibition ‘A big natural colour chart’. Meanwhile, young patients will be joining in with CUH Arts’ flagship programme ‘Dance for Health’ for “Groovy Tuesday” on paediatric wards.
Day 3 - Wednesday 5th July
The CUH Arts Festival also coincides with the NHS 75th birthday on Wednesday July 5 July when illustrator Jim Butler and writer Hannah Jane Walker will be on site to capture staff experiences for the national hospital arts project “Our National Health Stories”.
At lunchtime, Britten Sinfonia and Sing! Choirs @ CBC will be performing sets at The Green and The Gardens. Guests should also watch out for a pop-up printmaking studio with Lucy Gough and a special Cambridge Children’s Hospital carnival procession.
Day 4 - Thursday 6th July
A team portrait session is the theme for Thursday’s staff drop-in workshops, while Dance for Health’s Filipa Pereira-Stubbs will be leading a special session for staff to relax at the end of a long day.
Day 5 - Friday 7th July
The week is rounded off on Friday with another creative drop-in session in the concourse, this time with the world-renowned signature artist for the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital, Amalia Pica.
Pica will be focusing on the theme of playtime for children and also leading bedside activities on children’s wards while Jim Butler and Hannah Jane Walker continue their sketching and story sharing elsewhere.
Head of Arts, Natalie Ellis, whose CUH Arts team have organised the week-long event said:
“The annual Arts Festival is a cultural highlight of our hospital calendar, and this year we are delighted to be celebrating 75 years of the NHS with a special programme of activities for patients and staff that feature a fantastic range of collaborating artists including some new and familiar faces.
"We want to say a huge thank you to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust for helping to make this happen and to our wonderful artists and musicians for approaching this with such dedication and enthusiasm.
"It’s going to be a great week!”
