A SPECIAL operation between Tamworth’s hospital and art gallery saw eight more artworks handed over for permanent display in the children’s ward.
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Tamworth hospital paediatrician Dr Helen Goodwin was officially handed the artworks by students from Wee Waa Public School yesterday, who were at the gallery for an Operation Art workshop.
The presentation was a part of the Operation Art initiative which encourages children to create artworks for children battling illness in hospitals.
The artworks will be on display at Tamworth hospital from early June and add to more than 40 works already on loan from the gallery displayed at the hospital.
Tamworth Regional Gallery director Bridget Guthrie said it was a un- ique opportunity for the gallery and thehospital.
“Through one of the statewide touring exhibitions, eight artworks by primary school children were acquired for permanent display in Tamworth hospital,” Ms Guthrie said.
The handover was part of a “broader partnership” between the gallery and the hospital, according to Ms Guthrie.
“We work collaboratively to invest in the visual aesthetic of the hospital,” she said.
Dr Goodwin received the artworks, which she says will probably go into patient bedrooms in the children’s ward.
“Operation Art is a project which gets children in schools to create artworks which they feel children in hospital might find comforting,” Dr Goodwin said.
“I think the benefit goes both ways – children doing artworks probably get a kick out of doing something to help.”
Dr Goodwin said filling the ward’s walls with artworks goes a long way to reducing the institutional nature of hospitals for children.
“They’re away from their home and they don’t feel well, so age-appropriate furnishings definitely make the experience less frightening,” Dr Goodwin said.