Five artists collaborate with UMCG staff on participatory, care-focused art projects
Since February 2025, five artists have been working with the medical centre staff on participatory, care-focused art projects in different departments of the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG). The artists’ aim is to co-create participatory art projects to support the wellbeing of staff. The project reflects the UMCG’s core value, See the person (Zie de mens).
The pilot is an initiative of Arts in Health Netherlands in collaboration with UMCG and theatre company PeerGroup.
Why this pilot?
Arts in Health is a growing field in which trained artists use creative methods to contribute to the wellbeing of healthcare workers and patients, and to promote healthy living. Arts in Health does not replace care, but supports it.
This pilot focuses on healthcare staff, in response to the pressures of modern healthcare—workload, technological focus, and compassion fatigue—the projects aim to create space for connection, inspiration, and to develop meaning in the work environment.
Five artists, five departments
Arts in Health Netherlands worked with five UMCG departments to recruit and train five artists with part of five departments for a period of five months:
- Morgan Ton, multidisciplinary artist & filmmaker → Beatrix Children’s Hospital
- Anne Varekamp, spatial designer & visual artist → Communication & Marketing
- Emma Berentsen, performance-maker & dramaturg → Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery
- Eva Koopmans, relational artist & designer → Spiritual Care
- Wiesje Gunnink, artist & arts educator → Orthopedics
Pilot phases
During Phase 1 (February–July 2025), artists got to know the staff of their UMCG department, exploring ideas and building connections with creative activities. Together, the artists and staff developed creative projects that reflect the unique context and culture of each department.
Phase 2 started in (October–November 2025). During this phase, the focus will shift to deepening and presenting the experience of art-making and ‘seeing the person’.
Throughout both phases, the artists, programme makers, coordinator, and researchers have met regularly in a learning community. These sessions provided space for reflection, peer support, and shared learning. At the same time, researchers were collecting and analyzing data to evaluate the pilot's process and impact.
To complete the second phase, Peergroup will work with the artists and UMCG staff to create an immersive theatrical experience that further develops the ‘See the person’ theme. This will take the form of an audiowalk – a creative reflection on the project’s theme and process. The audiowalk, together with the programme’s evaluation and report, will be presented to staff and the public at the UMCG in February.
Pilot Team
The pilot is led by programme makers Kirsten Krans & Dirk Bruinsma, researcher and trainer Ferdinand Lewis, pilot coordinator and researcher Nina van den Berg, and student assistant Twan Tromp.
Steering Committee
Strategic guidance and supervision are provided by the UMCG steering committee, chaired by Michiel Kahmann. Members: Barbara van Leeuwen, Hanneke van der Wal-Huisman, Jaap Tulleken, Bertrand de Jong, Edwina Doting, Joke Fleer, and Mark Dessing.
Pilot Partners
UMCG, University of Groningen, Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, Peergroup, and Nationaal Programma Groningen.