See work from
The International UCL Award
Start’s staff and service users were delighted to hear that their exhibition project Crowning Glories has won the prestigious international UCL (University College London) Arts in Health Award for 2004. This award is offered by the University College London’s Centre for Medical Humanities and the Slade School of Fine Art, in association with the Arts Council of England, the Royal College of Physicians, and the National Network for the Arts in Health.
Helmet Hat
Morag Musk, Service Manager, comments on Start’s achievement: “The UCL Award is given for important leading work in arts and health, especially for work that is of internationally outstanding quality, that changes attitudes to health issues, and that moves mainstream thinking forward. Start is the leading model for arts and mental health in the country, and I’m very excited to know that we have won an award that acknowledges the quality and creativity of our service.”
Chief Executive of the Trust Laura Roberts says: “Winning this prominent prize is a great achievement”, whilst the Trust’s Medical Director Frank Margison comments, “This is a well-deserved reward, and reflects the enormous contribution that Start has made to improving mental health in Manchester and in reducing stigma.” Linda Priest, the Trust’s Director for Social Care, adds, “I agree with every remark of the judges”, and Senior Manager Nick Metcalfe writes, “This is a wonderful recognition of the excellent standard of creative work, and of the role Start plays in supporting and improving people’s health.”
This award is one of the most prestigious currently on offer to arts and health organisations, and our achievement at Start in winning this is exceptional. Wendy Teall, coordinator of Crowning Glories, says: “ The judges’ feedback about Crowning Glories will show you how high their praise was for our work.
‘Creative...imaginative....witty...challenging ..changing attitudes...outstanding... these are just some of the comments. We are thrilled about receiving this award, and delighted by its message of encouragement to continue developing our work in healthcare.”
Service users at Start were bowled over by the news. “I think it’s brilliant”, says a member of the Crowning Glories project team, “what an amazing surprise...this news has made my year! Now I can describe myself as an award-winning artist - I would never thought it possible before I came to Start!”
Accompanying the award is a cheque for £1000, and we plan to use this on a future art project.
Judges’ Comments about Crowning Glories :
Particularly highly commended
Exceptional
Wonderful hats. This is an excellent project
Outstanding – very good project, very professional, good outcomes
An interesting concept to do with changing attitudes
Genuinely interesting
The aims of this project are well-defined and admirable
The artistic output is witty and challenging
Exciting project which was cohesive and surprisingly very diverse - a variety of highly individual reactions to the theme
Useful and helpful recovery aid
Well-presented – each object beautifully displayed (beautiful visuals) with emphasis on texture and structure
Articulate and complementary contextual material
Creative and imaginative use of craft and photography in context of mental health
| 