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What happens when artists become part of hospital life—not as visitors or performers, but as co-creators with hospital staff? In 2025, five artists joined different departments of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) to collaborate with hospital staff in the Arts in Health pilot. Their goal was to cultivate a supportive environment through art, one that encouraged employees to reflect on their work and motivation and explored ways of supporting wellbeing within the often demanding context of the hospital. In this article, the artists share their approaches, experiences, and the insights gained from working alongside hospital staff.
Wiesje Gunnink, visual artist | Orthopedics department
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“At first, the hospital felt like an overwhelming maze. I began by observing, getting to know staff, and finding moments for art breaks. Some weren’t keen to make art yet I soon felt welcome, especially among the doctors, whose openness encouraged collaboration. Working with healthcare staff felt like finding a missing puzzle piece, connecting my artistic practice with my background in a family of care workers. I translated my experiences into poems and visual works, discovering parallels between art and care, such as precision, repetition, and dedication. Together we created by drawing lines without looking, pulling threads, cutting, gluing, and reflecting on how the past, present, and future meet in care”
Emma Berentsen, performance artist | Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary surgery department
“At the start of the project, I shadowed different people from the HPB department, from observing liver transplants to joining nurses in their patient meetings. I quickly learned how flexible everyone had to be with their time and decided to claim ten minutes in the weekly team meetings for my own artistic moments, which I called Emma’s Dilemmas. Finding time and space for art wasn’t always easy, and in the beginning, I sometimes felt unnecessary among people with “real” jobs. But as I grew closer to the team, I felt more at ease. Watching a liver transplantation struck me as an artwork in itself, the precision, rhythm, and silent collaboration between surgeons almost felt like a choreography. Seeing everyone create blackout poems together was one of the highlights of the project. In those moments, I noticed small signs of connection and vulnerability as people revealed something of themselves beyond their professional roles.”
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Eva Koopmans, relational artist and designer | Spiritual Care department
“Chaplains occupy a unique position in the hospital: one of great freedom and of deep attentiveness to the humanity of each patient. Initially, I had expected to accompany them during patient visits, but for privacy reasons that wasn’t possible. This felt limiting at first but then became a source of inspiration. I realized that their work often goes unnoticed within the hospital structure, they are literally and figuratively invisible. Once, I even went on a small quest through the hospital to find their workspace, only to discover that few people knew where it was. That invisibility became central to the project: how could we make their work visible and tangible? We are now creating an artistic representation of the safe space they build with patients—a space where everything can be said and nothing has to be solved. I’ve come to feel at home within the hospital, part of a team whose quiet presence spreads like ink in water”
Morgan Ton, visual artist and filmmaker | Beatrix Children’s Hospital
“I started by shadowing the nurses, doctors and palliative caregivers to understand their workload, daily rhythms and perspectives to caregiving. This helped me design an art project that wouldn’t interrupt their work and could bring a sense of playfulness and joy into their day. What surprised me most is how harsh many staff were on their own creativity. I really had to encourage them to let go of perfection, and so for the first assignment I invited staff members to draw themselves as a child would, using bright colors and imagination. The results were often wonderfully playful and honest. This sparked my curiosity about how patients see their caregivers, so I created a second assignment in which patients had to draw staff members. I sometimes joined these drawing moments and it was heartwarming to see how it led to moments of connection and joy. It motivated staff members to sit down with their patients for a while without a medical purpose, and ‘switching’ roles with the patients in terms of being subject to observation”
Anne Varenkamp, designer and visual artist | Marketing and Communication Department
“In the communications department, I’ve been exploring how creativity can ease work pressure without disrupting daily routines. We found that short, pre-planned creative sessions worked best. At first, many employees were hesitant, saying things like “I can’t do this,” but by the end of the sessions, their attitudes often shifted completely. These workshops became moments of connection, and word soon spread that they were fun, relaxing, and a great way to meet colleagues from other teams within the same department. Often staff felt too busy or didn’t see the value at first, but over time, curiosity drew more people in. The process took patience as I was keen on letting it happen organically. For me, the conversations during the workshops were the most powerful aspect. People felt safe enough to open up, not only about work, but also about personal things. And for me as an artist, it was deeply rewarding to see participants surprise themselves with their own creativity.”