Five artists collaborated with UMCG staff on participatory, care-focused art projects
In 2025, an Arts in Health pilot took place at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG). Five professional artists collaborated with staff from five different departments to develop participatory art projects aimed at supporting wellbeing in the workplace.
The pilot was initiated by Arts in Health Groningen (AiHG) in collaboration with UMCG and theatre company Peergroup.
Art in support of care
In the growing field of Arts in Health, trained artists use creative methods to support the wellbeing of healthcare workers, patients, and to promote healthy living. Arts in Health does not replace care, but supports it.
This pilot focused on supporting the wellbeing of UMCG staff. In response to the growing pressures on healthcare staff—high workload, burnout, and compassion fatigue—the projects created space for connection, inspiration, and rediscovering meaning in work.
Five artists, five departments
Artists and departments were carefully recruited and matched. For five months, the artists became part of their UMCG departments:
- Beatrix Children’s Hospital - Morgan Ton, multidisciplinary artist & filmmaker
- Communication & Marketing - Anne Varekamp, spatial designer & visual artist
- Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery - Emma Berentsen, performance-maker & dramaturg
- Spiritual Care - Eva Koopmans, relational artist & designer
- Orthopedics - Wiesje Gunnink, artist & arts educator
Each of the UMCG departments got to know its artist by bringing them into the staff’s work and routines. As the artists got to know their departments, they introduced artistic activities that staff did on breaks, during quiet times in the work day, and even after hours. Staff reported that the creative activities helped get to know their colleagues beyond their professional roles, as people.
Throughout the pilot, artists, programme makers, the coordinator and researchers met regularly in a learning community. These sessions provided space for reflection, exchange and mutual support.
Evaluation of the pilot
Alongside the pilot, an evaluation was conducted to understand the experiences of participants, and what meaning the project had for staff in the context of work.
Adrenaline: an audiowalk through the UMCG
As the final outcome of the pilot, an immersive audiowalk through the UMCG was developed, in collaboration with theatre company Peergroup. Titled Adrenaline, the walk gives staff and the general public the opportunity to experience the pilot’s theme of, ‘see the human being’ first hand, while exploring the actual halls and rooms of the hospital.
Wearing headphones, visitors are individually guided through the UMCG and granted access to spaces normally unavailable to the public. The hospital itself acts as the narrator, sharing stories about the patients and staff, policymakers grappling with transitions and renovations, and healthcare professionals working under immense pressure.
Adrenaline invites visitors to experience the hospital from a different perspective and to reflect on the human aspect of care.
Adrenaline can be visited at the UMCG from February 25 to March 22, 2026.
Pilot Team
The pilot is led by programme makers Kirsten Krans & Dirk Bruinsma, researcher/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.