Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hospital patients to be prescribed some art and culture at “world first” gallery

Hospital patients to be prescribed some art and culture at “world first” gallery

It is thought to be the first art gallery of its kind in the world.

The Suttie Space will open its doors at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in just over a month’s time.

Positioned above a number of operating theatres and next to some of the hospital’s busiest clinics, it is understood to be the first purpose-built art gallery in an acute hospital setting.

While designed for patients, their visitors and staff, it is also hoped that the Suttie Space will become a key cultural venue in the city.

The gallery been designed as much to accommodate a patient being pushed in on a trolley as an art lover coming to see an exhibition from the city and beyond.

It will bring the visitor out of the hospital environment and bring a little of the outside world in.

The plan is to have it open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet its full potential as a place to escape, reflect and generally step out of the stresses of the hospital environment.

Sally Thomson, director of Grampian Hospitals Art Trust, said: “It is about having something in a hospital which is about not being in hospital.

“It is still a hospital and by its nature it is an emotional space.

“Some of the most important events – from birth to death and everything in between – will happen here.

“What we want to do is blur that space between hospital and public space.”

The first exhibition will open at the Suttie Space, named after oil entrepreneur Ian Suttie, the major donor of the project, will open to the public on November 30.

His £250,000 donation allowed GHAT to purchase the room in the hospital from NHS Grampian with a mix of public funding and other financial backing allowing the gallery to take shape.

GHAT has furnished the walls of hospital corridors in the north-east with high quality art for the past 30 years, with the Suttie Space the ultimate expression in stimulating the hospital environment with visual arts.

Ms Thomson said: “GHAT has always been about the person, not the diagnosis.

“We are talking to you as a person, and that is exactly what art does.”

The art on display will be selected by a panel of health professionals and art experts with hopes to bring film and performances to the space.

Ms Thomson praised the support of NHS Grampian in its support of art in hospital.

“NHS Grampian has always had such a vision as to how art can be incorporated into the hospital environment.”

She said that while the concept of art hanging in hospital corridors was not new, she was certain that there was no other gallery like the Suttie Space.

Ms Thomson said: “There are lots of curated corridors out there but we are still waiting for someone to tell us we are not the first to be doing this.”