The Healing Arts

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and its charity, CW+, have been pioneers at the intersection of art and healthcare for more than twenty-five years. By bringing music, performance, and the visual arts into the healthcare setting, they have created an extraordinary patient environment and transformed the experience of countless patients, visitors, and staff. The most comprehensive collection of British art on display in a hospital, CW+’s visual and digital arts collection at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital features more than a thousand contemporary works of art.

This essay collection tells the story of the art collection at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, from the first installation of daring sculpture even before the hospital opened its doors to the exciting future of the program. The Healing Arts discusses the impact of the arts on patients’ recovery, in some cases shortening their stay or reducing their need for pain medication. From drawing to music to creative digital technology, this volume looks at how the integration of the arts into the day-to-day life of the hospital has changed its patients’ experience of care.