Tonic Arts: Spring Round Up
Bringing Creativity and light to NHS Lothian This Spring. By Susan Grant and Len McCaffer
It’s been another busy and inspiring few months for Tonic Arts, with creative projects taking shape across NHS Lothian hospitals and healthcare settings. We’re delighted to share updates from across our enhancement, exhibitions, collection and participation programmes, showcasing the positive impact that art, design and creativity can have on patients, staff and visitors every day.
Tonic Commissions
Our enhancement projects continue to transform healthcare environments, making them more welcoming, calming and supportive for everyone who uses them.
Staff Wellbeing Space, St John’s Hospital
We were delighted to celebrate the completion of the staff wellbeing space at St John’s Hospital recently. Designed by Stuart Smith Gordon in collaboration with staff and supported by our Tonic Arts team, the space offers a calm and welcoming retreat from the demands of a busy clinical environment. Comfortable furnishings and specially commissioned artwork by Tonic Arts Graduate Prize winners Sean Obrzud and Kitty Yarrow help create a restorative atmosphere where staff can pause, reflect and recharge. It’s a wonderful example of how thoughtful design and creativity can support wellbeing every day.
Mackinnon House, Royal Edinburgh Hospital
At the Royal Edinburgh Hospital (REH), we’re working with Artlink and the hospital community to create a new surface design for the entrance to Mackinnon House. The project will transform what was once a dreary, uninviting space into a warm and welcoming arrival point for patients, staff and visitors. Below is an example of the design being explored for the space.
Orchard Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital
We’re also progressing plans for a new Orchard Clinic mural in the Redwood Courtyard, designed to enhance the outdoor environment and create a more positive and uplifting space for patients, staff and visitors. Designer Fraser Gray has now been appointed and development work is underway.
Canteen, Western General Hospital
We’re delighted to be progressing plans for a new mural and signage scheme at the Western General Hospital canteen, designed to create a brighter, more welcoming environment for staff, patients and visitors.
Since appointing mural artist and signwriter Leah Pendleton (pictured below) in January, we’ve run a series of public engagement sessions to inform the artwork and signage, ensuring the colours, style, and themes reflect both the canteen environment and the community who uses it.
The space has already been repainted and new blinds installed, with the final mural and signage designs to be completed over the summer. The project will transform the canteen into a more vibrant, welcoming and enjoyable place for everyone who uses it.
Breast Cancer Clinic, Western General Hospital
We’re excited to be exploring plans for an enhancement project within the Breast Cancer Clinic at the Western General Hospital.
Designer Stuart Smith Gordon has been working closely with staff to develop concept designs for several areas within the department, helping to identify opportunities to improve the environment for patients and staff. The proposals will guide wider consultation and be put forward for approval in the next stage of the project.
While still at an early stage, the project has the potential to transform multiple spaces within the clinic, creating a more welcoming, supportive and person-centred environment. We look forward to sharing further updates as the designs develop and plans progress for what could become a major enhancement project with lasting benefits for everyone who uses the service.
Design concepts by Stuart Smith Gordon below:
Fertility Services and Counselling Room, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
We’re looking forward to completing enhancements to the counselling room within Fertility Services at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, designed to create a more welcoming and supportive space for both patients and staff.
Following a recent room relocation, the designs were revised to ensure the new space meets the needs of those who use it. The project includes a bespoke mural, carefully selected furnishings and artwork by two local artists, all chosen in response to feedback from staff.
The redesigned environment has been created to complement the therapeutic work that takes place within the room, helping to foster a sense of calm, comfort and privacy for those attending counselling sessions. As well as enhancing the experience for patients, the improvements will provide a more uplifting and supportive environment for staff.
Installation is now ready to proceed as soon as access to the space is available, and we look forward to sharing the finished result.
Examples of how the designs might look below:
New Projects Taking Shape
As well as the above, we’ve also been scoping a wide mix of new bespoke commissioning projects across NHS Lothian, including early-stage enhancements for the Memory Assessment Unit and the NHS staff spaces at Saughton Prison. More updates to come as these take shape.
We’re putting the finishing touches to our enhancement projects at CAMHS Musselburgh and Penicuik, and the Crichton Ward and Theatre Suite at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. Thank you for following their journey so far – we’re looking forward to sharing the completed transformations very soon.
Tonic Collection – Site Enhancements
Our Tonic Arts Collection continues to grow and reach new areas across NHS Lothian, bringing creativity and colour into spaces where it can make a real difference.
Artworks are chosen through engagement and collaboration with staff, ensuring each piece feels right for its setting and supports the people who use it every day.
These installations add moments of calm, identity and inspiration to busy healthcare environments. Here’s a selection of some of our recent installations:
Duncan Street Dental
Our Tonic Arts Collection team recently completed a new artwork installation at Duncan Street Dental, helping to create a more welcoming and uplifting environment for patients and staff.
Working closely with the dental team, a selection of artworks was chosen to complement and enhance key spaces throughout the building. Recent acquisitions by artist Lottie Farmer now bring colour, character and moments of joy to the first-floor corridors, while a thoughtfully curated selection of existing works from our Tonic Arts Collection has been installed across the ground floor.
The display is completed with bespoke frames from Detail Framing, featuring subtle colour accents that beautifully complement the artworks and add an extra layer of detail to the space. Together, these additions help create a more engaging and positive experience for everyone who uses the service.
Mackinnon House, Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Moonlit Walk by Edwin G. Lucas was recently installed in the administration corridor at Mackinnon House, following the artwork’s return from a loan to Hawick Museum.
The painting featured in Edwin G. Lucas – A Purely Individual Painter, an exhibition celebrating the artist’s distinctive career and showcasing paintings, drawings and archival material spanning his Surrealist period and later innovative work.
This installation highlights the important role of our Tonic Arts Collection in caring for and sharing artworks across a range of settings. From NHS sites to museum exhibitions, the collection ensures high‑quality modern and contemporary art is accessible and can be enjoyed by patients, staff, visitors and wider communities.
Balcarres Ward
The installation of eleven new artworks was recently completed in the Royal Edinburgh Building’s Balcarres Ward. Featuring bold, abstract and contemporary prints, the selected pieces were carefully curated to enhance the atmosphere of the ward – bringing colour, character and a sense of uplift to areas that previously felt more clinical.
The change was felt immediately. Staff and patients have already commented on the warmth and joy the artworks bring to the space, helping to create a more welcoming and supportive environment for everyone who spends time there.
The installation was professionally framed by Detail Framing, with featured works by artists including David Shrigley, John MacLean, Scott Campbell, Matt Kerr and Darktown Resident.
Celebrating Our 2026 Tonic Arts Purchase Prize Winners
We’re delighted to have awarded three Tonic Arts Purchase Prizes this year to emerging artists Poppy Morgan, Ellis Bairstow and Brianna Tosswill. Their work will join our collection of more than 2,500 artworks displayed across NHS Lothian sites.
By bringing high-quality contemporary art into healthcare environments, we help create spaces that feel more welcoming, calming and human. These artworks can offer comfort, reflection and connection for patients, visitors and staff, while supporting wellbeing and enhancing everyday healthcare experiences.
Artist Reunited with Long-Lost Painting at the Western General
What began as an ordinary hospital visit turned into an extraordinary moment of rediscovery for artist, Dr Duncan Thomson.
While visiting a friend at the Western General Hospital, the 96-year-old unexpectedly came face to face with a painting he had created as a young art student more than 50 years ago, hanging in a corridor between wards 53 and 54.
Over the decades, the artwork had become part of our Tonic Arts Collection, helping to create welcoming and uplifting healthcare environments for patients, staff and visitors. The chance reunion brought back memories of Duncan’s early creative life and is a wonderful reminder of the power of art to spark connection, comfort, conversation and moments of joy across generations.
Following the discovery, Duncan met with our Tonic Arts team and Western General Site Director Chris Stirling to discuss plans for a commemorative plaque, ensuring future visitors can learn the story behind the painting and the artist who created it.
In the year of the Royal Scottish Academy’s 200th anniversary, it is especially fitting that Dr Thomson, an RSA Academician and former Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, has been reunited with a piece of his own artistic history.
Tonic Exhibitions
Our ongoing programme of exhibitions at sites across NHS Lothian bring vibrant and inspiring art directly to hospital spaces and create a more calming and uplifting environment for patients, staff and visitors. Please do visit when you can for a moment of reflection and space to breathe.
Featured Exhibition: BOLD
The powerful BOLD exhibition is currently on display at the Western General Hospital.
Created by photographer Caroline Sikkenk in partnership with the Pink Ribbon Foundation, the exhibition celebrates women affected by breast cancer, exploring themes of identity, resilience and strength.
For many of the women featured, this hospital is deeply connected to their diagnosis and treatment, making the exhibition particularly moving within this setting.
As one participant shared:
“The strength and resilience in these photos is really important for everyone – staff, clinicians and patients – to see.”
This exhibition offers a space where vulnerability and strength sit side by side – an important reminder of the human stories within healthcare.
Come and enjoy the exhibition at our Tonic Gallery in the Anne Ferguson Building, open until 30 October.
- Astley Ainslie: Looking Through a New Lens – Until 30 November 2026
- Royal Edinburgh Hospital: Sea Trek – Until 30 July 2026
- Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh: Out of the Blueprint – Until 28 October 2026
- St John’s Hospital: Things Beyond Measure by Lindsay Hamilton – Until 30 September 2026
- Western General Hospital: BOLD by Caroline Sikkenk – Until 30 October 2026
- Western General Hospital: My Journey by the Renal Young Adult Service – Until 28 October 2026
Tonic Participation and Live Arts
Trolleydarity Staycations Bring Joy Across NHS Lothian
A huge thank you to everyone who embraced the unexpected and took part in our Trolleydarity Scratch & Sniff Staycations, delivered in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland.
Over a 20-week tour across four hospitals, the interactive experience brought moments of connection, creativity and joy to patients, families, visitors and staff. In total, 1,182 staycations were enjoyed at the bedside and beyond, transforming everyday hospital spaces through imagination, conversation and shared experiences.
As Dr Ramsay, Consultant on the Stroke Ward at St John’s Hospital, reflected:
You brought such an air of fun and light heartedness to the ward. It had effects on everyone there.”
NHS Festival Sessions for 2026
August is Festival season in Edinburgh, but we know that many patients may be unable get out and enjoy the events taking place across the city. That’s why, as part of our NHS Festival Sessions programme, we’re delighted to be offering additional performances over August to bring the spirit and excitement of the Festival directly to our hospital sites.
Patients, visitors and staff will have the opportunity to enjoy special performances from world-class musicians in hospital wards and communal spaces, creating memorable moments, lifting spirits and offering a unique Festival experience for those who might otherwise miss out.
With thanks to the Edinburgh International Festival for helping us bring the joy, creativity and sense of connection that make Festival season so special to NHS Lothian patients and staff.
And keep an eye on your emails for an update on free family tickets for NHS staff for the Edinburgh International Festival Family Concert on 16th August.
Take Time to Get Creatively Minded This August
Our Creatively Minded project is in full swing, with staff already enjoying a range of creative wellbeing activities, including art walks at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and watercolour sessions at the Western General Hospital.
We’re now delighted to bring the watercolour sessions to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, inviting staff to take part in a relaxing drop-in session with artist Kate Hajducka on 12 August.
This informal session offers an opportunity to step away from the demands of the day, slow down and explore your creativity in a welcoming and supportive environment. Whether you’re an experienced artist or haven’t picked up a paintbrush in years, everyone is welcome to take part.
Using watercolours as a mindful and creative outlet, the session provides time to unwind, connect with colleagues and enjoy the wellbeing benefits of making art. All materials will be provided, so simply bring yourself and a willingness to have a go.
Join us and discover how a little creativity can make a big difference to your day.
DATE: 12th August
TIME: Drop in between 12-3.30pm
LOCATION: Staff wellbeing courtyard (OPD6), Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
Scottish Opera Chorus
Singers also performed an evening concert to an audience of 70 people at the Pod at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. Selected pieces were chosen from Beethoven’s Fidelio, Mozart’s Voyagers’ Chorus and the soldiers chorus by Charles Gounod.
The NHS Staff Chorus were also invited to perform at the Healing Arts Scotland National Conference at the National Gallery of Scotland. 35 members of the chorus performed on the steps of the Gallery to conference delegates and gallery visitors.
These collaborations bring staff together through music – supporting wellbeing, creativity and connection.
Royal Edinburgh Hospital’s Filmmakers in Residence
Thanks to funding from Baring Foundation and Screen Scotland, we are delighted to have launched phase 2 or our Filmmaker in Residence programme.
Two award winning filmmakers Olwyn Carrol, and animator Tomas Sheridan (documentary) have started working on site with patients and staff.
Network News
A reflection on our 2026 Green Health and Tonic Arts Network Gathering
Thank you to everyone who joined this year’s network gathering. It was inspiring to see members of the Tonic Arts and Green Health networks come together, sharing experiences, ideas and aspirations for the future. The event demonstrated the strength of our growing networks and the value of creating space for meaningful conversations, new connections and collaborative working.
Save the Date
Our next Tonic Arts Network meeting will take place on the 9th of September from 12-1pm, with a focus on enhancements.
As network members, you will receive a calendar invite for this session once all the details have been finalised.
Healing Arts Scotland – National Conference
18 – 19 June 2026 – National Gallery, Edinburgh
As part of a week-long celebration of Arts in Health, members of our team joined sector peers at the Healing Arts Scotland National Conference and presented some of our work.
The conference explored three core themes – Arts and Life Stages, Arts and Innovation, and Arts and the Environment – offering insights into both global practice and Scotland based creative health work.
By engaging directly with national leaders, researchers, and practitioners, our learning will inform how we design, deliver, and grow our Tonic Arts programme, ensuring that the voices and needs of the patients, staff, and visitors we support are represented in national conversations about arts, health, and wellbeing.
