Bethlem Gallery

Family workshop Thursday 18 April 2-4pm Free Bethlem Gallery studio Come along to an afternoon of playing with paint. In this family workshop we will be experimenting with a range of materials to see what marks they make – string, feather, bubble wrap, loo rolls and more. We will also be creating a large painting… Read more »

Saturday 1 June 10:30am – 12:30pm Bethlem Gallery studio   Join us to experiment with charcoal. Inspired by the work of exhibiting artist John O’Donnell, we will be working with texture, movement, tone and pattern. There will be a series of quick exercises before moving on to drawing a portrait model in charcoal. Please bring… Read more »

Saturday 6 April 10.30am – 12.30pm Gallery Studio   Join us to learn the basics of acrylic portrait painting. Inspired by the work of exhibiting artist John O’Donnell, we will be painting expressive portraits direct from a model. We will be experimenting with light, tone and colour, using minimal brushstrokes to define shape and form…. Read more »

Saturday 4 May 10.30am – 12.30pm Gallery Studio   Join us to learn the basics of acrylic portrait painting. Inspired by the work of exhibiting artist John O’Donnell, we will be painting expressive portraits direct from a model. We will be experimenting with light, tone and colour, using minimal brushstrokes to define shape and form…. Read more »

Artist as Research #2 Saturday 2 March Bethlem Gallery 1pm – 5pm You are warmly invited to participate in our second ‘Artist as Researcher’ workshop. Join us to try out our newly-installed Risograph printer and to make our questions about mental health and justice public. Please book your place here. To find out more about the… Read more »

Realm A collaborative exhibition by Hazel Brill, Richard Downes and Mr X. Realm is a new way of working with our longstanding partners at Outside In and CGP London, where we bring 3 artists together to develop a new body of work, following an intensive residency on-site at the gallery. The residency starts on 5 March… Read more »

Think Tank: A Bethlem Salon Thursday 21st March 5-7pm Bethlem Gallery Join artist Eleanor Minney, Professor Liz Tunbridge and artist-researcher Michaela Ross for a salon discussion with people involved in the mental health care system. Together we will explore some of the central questions and provocations from the exhibition Switching Perceptions and add our perspectives… Read more »

Friday 8 March 10.30am – 12.30pm Gallery Studio In collaboration with our friends Adamson Collection Trust   Join us on International Women’s Day to explore the work of a little-known artist, Gwyneth Rowlands. A patient at a psychiatric hospital for 35 years, she collected and painted over 200 flints. Guided by artist researchers, you will… Read more »

Bethlem Salon: Looking Back on Our Future Likes   Saturday 26thJanuary 2019 11.00am – 4.00pm   Join us for an open studio session (11.00am – 1.00pm) to work with the themes of the exhibition. & for an informal discussion (3.00pm – 4.00pm) about art, young people and the way we live our lives on and… Read more »

Saturday 2 March 10.30am – 12.30pm Gallery Studio   In this workshop we will have Dr. Tunbridge with us, as well as a selection of human brain tissue samples, slides and neuron imagery. Join us for gentle drawing exercises inspired by the scientific specimens, as well as an opportunity to ask Liz your science related… Read more »

Saturday 2 February 10.30am – 12.30am Gallery Studio Inspired by the text-based works that exhibiting artist Eleanor Minney created with patients on the National Psychosis Unit, join us to develop personality postcards or pieces of experimental writing using words cut from second-hand books. No previous art experience necessary, all welcome. Under 16’s must be accompanied… Read more »

Bethlem Wood Library is working on Bethlem Gallery’s Mental Health and Justice project. This is the first year of a four year, Wellcome funded provision for public engagement. Our artists with lived experience programme will be focused on two concepts that have been central to the mental health reform movement: the concept of support in decision-making and… Read more »

We are very happy to announce the artists who will lead on this first year of Bethlem Gallery’s Mental Health and Justice project.  They are: Bethlem Wood Library Mark Titchner OOMK Re:create Psychiatry Vacuum Cleaner We presented the artist programme for this year to the researchers at the annual colloquium held at the Wellcome Collection… Read more »

Art. Discussion. Tea. Saturday 29th September Bethlem GalleryThis event is free and open to everyone but, because of limited capacity, please rsvp at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-do-we-why-do-we-tickets-501177946733-4pm – Art in action around the Bethlem site.Bethlem Wood Library will be inviting participants to join them in making on site. For the last 10 years Bethlem Wood Library has been investigating the potential… Read more »

Thursday 5 July 12:00 – 14:30 Bethlem Gallery   What does the NHS mean to you? Join us for a workshop exploring your experiences of the NHS, led by writer David Gilbert and artist Beth Hopkins.  Through creative writing we will explore your perspectives into what matters in the NHS, healthcare and wellbeing. We’ll then convert the words… Read more »

We are delighted to announce that 9 Bethlem Artists have work hanging in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts This year our Patron, Grayson Perry, was curating the exhibition and facilitated Bethlem Artists, amongst other artists who had never shown in mainstream spaces before, to submit their work. The historic show is… Read more »

Venue: Long Gallery Maudsley 2 July – 28 September This exhibition provides an alternative celebration of the NHS at 70. It reveals perspectives of the people at the centre of our hospitals, the subjects of their work, and the environments within which they were making, from 1948 to the present day. We present a unique chance… Read more »

Sat 2nd June 10:30am – 12pm Gallery Studio Join us to make a new kind of self portrait. Inspired by John M’s powerful drawings in the IN/DI/VISIBLE exhibition, we will begin by drawing ourselves, then cutting out particular features and transforming them with collage. We’ll play with the relationships between mark making, shape and colour,… Read more »

Saturday 26th May  10.30am – 12.30pm   Join us for an informal discussion about artists’ use of public and private archives. Explore ways in which archives can be used to develop and reflect on your own practice. In conversation: Teresa Cisneros, cultural producer and Daniel Regan, artist and exhibitor in IN/DI/VISBLE.   Teresa Cisneros is a Chicana (Mexican-American)… Read more »

Join us for an exciting afternoon with Artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy. The discussion after the screening will be chaired by David A. Bailey. Bethlem Salon #9: Finding Fanon 26 May, 3.30 – 5pm   The Bethlem Salon Series brings together artists, academics and clinicians to think about a particular theme. Salon #9 offers a screening of Larry… Read more »

Saturday 5th May 1-5pm at Bethlem Gallery With Laura Palmer, Ed Thornton and Tim A Shaw Free and open to all – no booking needed Understanding human need is particularly relevant task for modern times. Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ is the dominant theoretical model referenced in social policy, pedagogy, advertising and clinical practice and remains… Read more »

7 April 10.30 am – 12  pm Gallery Studio   Join artist Esther Maxwell-Orumbie for a morning of lino cutting and printing. We will be creating our own images taking inspiration from African masks. Esther will share her own practice and guide you through the processes of printing. Esther is exhibiting her work in IN/DI/VISIBLE… Read more »

We are very excited to announce we have been awarded a grant from the Wellcome Trust for four years to commission artists with lived experience to work with researchers from Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London on the complex and important area of mental health and justice. Winning this grant means the… Read more »

                    Wednesday 21 February 2018 5:30pm – 7:30pm   Join us for the launch of our writer-in-residence David Gilberts’ latest pamphlet: Elephants (Fragile) published by Cinnamon Press. The humane poems in Elephants (Fragile) chronicle a journey through mental illness, including takes on the workings of the… Read more »

Join us at Bethlem Gallery for a seasonal session of wreath making, using materials provided by the stunning grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital. Led by artist Matthew, who will be on hand to offer his expertise in how to make your wreath look perfect, this 3 hour DIY workshop will give you a wonderful insight… Read more »

Join us for one of our final events as part of our September exhibition It’s how well you bounce in collaboration with Tate Exchange.   Time Well Spent Sunday 3rd December 14:00 – 18:00 Free   Tate Exchange, Level 5, Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG How are ideas of time and productivity related to our mental health? Organised in… Read more »

To mark World Mental Health Day 2017 Bethlem Gallery Artist Kim has written a poem.    Yesterday was painful But also beautiful Too unbearable Also bliss You see a summer falls to winter, There are transitional seasons But it’s the cold and the hot days you remember It’s world mental health day! I’ve been mentally… Read more »

A RE:CREATE Psychiatry project questioning notions of resilience in the therapeutic encounter. The aim of this project is to provide a platform for unheard and marginalised voices in mental health services and connect them to a wider community. To start a conversation between patients on SLaM Wards and Service Users in the Community at The… Read more »

Join us at the Bethlem Gallery this summer for some groundbreaking new theatre. Today’s lesson is about love, heartbreak and The Little Mermaid. Chris Woodley’s autobiographical solo show The Soft Subject (A Love Story) invites us back into the classroom to learn about loss, survival, and Brazil nuts! In this highly-energetic, pop-fuelled, heart-on-the-sleeve account, Woodley… Read more »

Celebrate our 20th birthday in style and join in on any of our exciting events this summer…   Project ALCHEMY Saturday 1 July 3 – 5pm Ismail Ali (Project ALCHEMY) will install a combined laboratory & theatre activating our limited edition anniversary mugs. Apply special formulae & technical process. Inject infusiasm. Create hot/cold brewed solutions… Read more »

  Join us for workshops and events in June with artist Beth Hopkins as part of her exhibition Traces. Lost and found: Book making workshop 3 June, 10am – 12pm Join artist Beth Hopkins to make a concertina book around the theme of lost and found, or objects left behind. Bring an object you have… Read more »

Saturday 6th May 1-3pm Bethlem Gallery Join us for a cup of tea and a round table debate with The Artist Taxi Driver to explore his distinct multidisciplinary art practice that includes performance, video, painting, critical debate and interventions into the media.   You can view The Artist Taxi Driver’s videos here and some of his… Read more »

Come and celebrate springtime and join us for our egg decorating workshop. Draw, paint, collage, mixed media. All ages welcome. 7 April, 10am – 12pm Book here

Join us for an artists’ self-publishing workshop as part of the exhibition Thinking Society: Art and Social Psychiatry A workshop exploring combinations of image and text. Make your perspective on the world public! Saturday 1 April 2 – 5pm Book here

Sat Feb 4, 1 – 5pm We are making an alternative archive. Join us on Saturday 4 February 1 – 5pm. Bring your own images of nursing/care or work with our collection. Drop-in collage activity – all welcome.

If you haven’t seen the Wellcome Collection’s Bedlam: Asylum and Beyond don’t forget to catch it this week! It’s on until 15 January. We would like to extend a big thank you to the Wellcome team for their support and generosity. It’s been a real privilege for the Bethlem Gallery and Museum to collaborate with the Wellcome… Read more »

14 December, 11am – 1pm Join us at Bethlem Gallery for a collaborative Christmas workshop. This workshop gives you the chance to contribute to the creation of a festive garland that will be displayed on the Bethlem Royal Hospital grounds over the festive period. You will be sharing the experience with a range of people who will… Read more »

3 December, 2 – 4pm   Join us at Bethlem Gallery for a seasonal session of wreath making, using materials provided by the stunning grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital. Led by artist Matthew, who will be on hand to offer his expertise in how to make your wreath look perfect, this 2 hour DIY workshop… Read more »

OPEN WORKSHOP Saturday 26th November, 11.00 – 15.30 Bethlem Royal Hospital. SEMINAR DISCUSSION Thursday 1st December, 17.30 – 20.00 Studio 288, Goldsmiths College, Art Education Building, 288 New Cross Rd. Details of workshop & speakers: http://bethlemartstudio.weebly.com/work-with-me-the-ethics-of-collaboration.html To book tickets, please visit our Eventbrite page: Open Workshop Seminar Discussion Bethlem Salon #7 is a collaboration between the Bethlem Gallery… Read more »

The ‘Raving’ and ‘Melancholy’ Debates 26th October, 4.30-7pm Curated by Dr Deji Ayonrinde, Consultant Psychiatrist Join us for the inaugural event in a specially curated programme of debates designed to promote active dialogue about national and global issues relevant to mental health, the arts and culture within the world’s oldest psychiatric institution, the Bethlem Royal… Read more »

You are warmly invited to an informal workshop at the Bethlem to talk about images of nursing and the ‘art’ of care. We are particularly interested in hearing the perspectives of nurses who used to work in mental health settings, but all are welcome!   Friday 30th September, 4-6pm The Bethlem Gallery Bethlem Royal Hospital Monks Orchard… Read more »

Join us for talks, walks, workshops and artistic encounters this Autumn SPACE IN MIND – FREE A three-day symposium exploring the intersections of art, architecture, psychiatry and geography DAY 1: ASYLUM TOPOGRAPHIES Thursday 22nd September, 16.30 – 20.00 DAY 2: SITE – BODY – VOICE Friday 23rd September, 16.30 – 20.00 DAY 3: CONTESTED SITES… Read more »

Bedlam: Asylum and Beyond opens this week at the Wellcome Collection 15 September 2016 – 15 January 2017   Follow the rise and fall of the mental asylum and explore how it has shaped the complex landscape of mental health today. Reimagine the institution, informed by the experiences of the patients, doctors, artists and reformers who… Read more »

What was here before? Due to popular demand we will be repeating our history walk every last Saturday of the month come rain or shine. Join us for a walk around the stunning grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital with artist Matthew in collaboration with the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. On this walk we… Read more »

‘‘I was very pleased to find out that I was exhibiting at the Bethlem Gallery. This last decade I have been concentrating with work of forms and colours. My poetry expresses hard times in the past and optimistic views of the future. I feel that now I look forward in colour instead of looking at… Read more »

Thursday 11 August 8pm-9:30pm Join Ishpi Blatchley and the Bethlem Wood Library for a bat hunt in the grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital where we’ll be using a bat detector to discover the bats of Bethlem. Please bring sturdy footwear and a torch. We will meet in the Bethlem Gallery at 8pm to start the… Read more »

Making Space for Wellbeing An exhibition at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital will run until September including work from Guys and St Thomas’ Charity, Bethlem Gallery, Museum of Life Sciences, The Gordon Museum, The Old Operating Theatre and the Science Gallery. Research shows how being active, giving to others, connecting to people, taking notice of… Read more »

Artist Antonia Attwood is crowdfunding for her excellent and engaging arts and health project Manifestations of the Mind. Have a read of our interview with Antonia and donate towards her Kickstarter. Can you tell us a bit about who you are what you do? I’m Antonia Attwood, an artist filmmaker who makes films about the phenomenology of mental… Read more »

Image: Study for ‘Conversation Points’ by Michaela Ross It’s Creativity and Wellbeing Week across London and the UK, 13 – 19 June. Join us in celebrating the hundreds of events showcasing the impressive variety and quality in the arts and health sector. Creativity and Wellbeing Week is hosted by London Arts and Health Forum, a membership organisation which… Read more »

Join us for walks around the stunning grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital with artists Matthew and Sue this summer.   June 25, 12 midday Rhododendron & Fern walk Join us for a walk around the stunning grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital with artist Matthew. As well as seeing the rhododendrons and ferns, you… Read more »

Art and ‘crafting the self’ Join us for a discussion event to explore the relationship between making and self -care. ‘This transformation of one’s self by one’s own knowledge is, I think, something rather close to the aesthetic experience. Why should a painter work if he is not transformed by his own painting?’ – Foucault Speakers: Jane Fradley, artist… Read more »

Join Bethlem Gallery maker Mr X at Siobhan Davies Dance Studios for What remains… Anatomy of an Artist: a festival of 10 new works 21 May 2016 | 2pm—9pm 22 May 2016 | 12pm—6pm Day pass £15 / Weekend pass £25 Concessions: Day pass £12 / Weekend pass £20 Booking via info@siobhandavies.com Siobhan Davies Dance and Independent… Read more »

Join us on the 25 May, 16.30 – 17.30, for a presentation and discussion with film makers, staff and patients reflecting on the challenges and rewards of filming within the Forensics Services at Bethlem Royal Hospital, for a documentary due to be aired later this year on Chanel 4. Our guests will include Guy King and… Read more »

Congratulations to our friends and neighbours Bethlem Museum of the Mind for being shortlisted for Museum of the Year by the Art Fund. The Art Fund awards the Museum of the Year prize annually to one outstanding museum, which, in the opinion of the judges, has shown exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement. The prize of £100,000… Read more »

Join artist Jan Arden for a drawing workshop where we’ll learn about some of his working processes and ideas behind his work. Jan will take us through some demonstrations and technical exercises focusing on various techniques of cross-hatching.   Drawing Workshop 1 – Saturday 28th May 11am-12:30pm – BOOK FREE TICKET ONLINE HERE Drawing Workshop… Read more »

Come on a 1-hour walk around the extensive grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital to explore the bluebells amongst the woods and relax in the grassy meadows. Artist Matthew will lead this walk and guide us through some simple relaxation techniques as we go. Along the way we will also encounter some of his sculptural… Read more »

This is a new blog which has been set up to showcase the writing of people involved in the Bethlem Gallery be they artists, volunteers, past or current patients. We currently have a writing group open to people who have been part of SLaM services at some point in their lives which takes place on… Read more »

The Bethlem Gallery is very proud to announce that 5 of our fabulous artists are exhibiting in… Radical Craft: Alternative Ways of Making Outside In National 2016 in collaboration with Craftspace 34 international and UK artists who express their creativity unbounded by taught conventions are showing work in Radical Craft: Alternative Ways of Making, a… Read more »

MIRROR by George Harding   12th April to 20th May 2016 Private View 13th April 7-9pm Free Viewing 9am to 4pm Weekdays and 9am to 12 Saturdays   The Ripley Arts centre invites you to the opening of Mirror on the 13th April: an exhibition of recent oil paintings by artist George Harding. His self-portraits, distorted in rippled glass and… Read more »

Writer’s Corner This is a new blog which has been set up to showcase the writing of people involved in the Bethlem Gallery be they artists, volunteers, past or current patients. We currently have a writing group open to people who have been part of SLaM services at some point in their lives which takes… Read more »