National Autism Unit (NAU) Art Strategy
Three new commissions are now underway to create a series of artworks for the new for the National Autism Unit (NAU) Building.
The commissioning process and brief development has been informed by a series of creative research residencies titled New Build – in collaboration with Project Artworks (an autism specialist art studios and organisation). Insights from this research has focused the commissions on immersive and sensory artworks with an emphasis on interactivity and enabling service-users to have agency over changing or transforming their experience of spaces within the unit, enabling sensory regulation, emotional connection, and calm exploration for autistic adults in a secure care setting.
Following an open call with input from NAU staff, service users, and wider individuals with lived experience in the selection process, the following artists/designers have been commissioned: Studio Makecreate will co-create a portable, immersive, and interactive artwork that transforms its environment using light and projection and is centred around service user and staff agency.
In addition, Studio Makecreate will co-produce a site-specific sculpture to serve as a focal point within the NAU gardens. The artwork aims to enhance the therapeutic environment by offering a calming, engaging, and inclusive sensory experience for service users, staff and families/carers.
Textile artist Alice Burnhope , whose practice works at the intersection of craft, care, and community will create a series of indoor textile and colour pieces which aim to be tactile, grounding, and familiar—meeting service-users and staff on a sensory level and allowing for slow, meditative processes that foster comfort and regulation. Through cloth, colour, and form, these installations nurture calm, spark curiosity, and restore a sense of agency.
Each commission will centre participation and co-production with creative artist-led workshops to develop the artworks with service-users and staff.
Commissioned artists for three new artworks as part of the NAU Art Strategy have been delivering creative co-production workshops with patients and staff at the NAU. Studio Makecreate are working with patients to develop a portable, immersive, and interactive artwork that transforms its environment using light and projection and is centred around service user and staff agency. Workshops with patients focused on designing bespoke shapes and visual elements that will be integrated into the projection system, directly influencing how light and atmosphere are experienced across different ward spaces. Through these collaborative sessions, participants explored the moods and environments they wish to create, ensuring the final artwork reflects their perspectives while enhancing a sense of agency, comfort, and connection.
Workshops were also delivered for the co-production of Make Creates site-specific sculpture aimed to serve as a focal point within the NAU gardens. The artwork, designed in consultation with patients and staff aims to enhance the therapeutic environment by offering a calming, engaging, and inclusive sensory experience for service users, staff and families/carers.
In this co-production workshop, patients were invited to curate a series of coloured poles by selecting and assembling combinations of hues and textured components, shaping the sensory qualities of the sculpture through touch and visual preference. This hands-on process encouraged participants to express personal responses to colour, material, and form to contribute directly to the artwork’s aesthetic and tactile experience.
The workshop then moved into the garden, where patients collaboratively explored potential layouts for the sculpture. Through discussion and testing of arrangements, they shared ideas about how the piece could be navigated and engaged with, considering movement, pause points, and how different users might interact with it. Their insights will inform a design that supports choice, exploration, and a sense of ownership, reinforcing the artwork’s role as an inclusive and therapeutic focal point within the NAU gardens.
For the final commission, patients and staff worked textile artist Alice Burnhope over a series of collaborative workshops, to develop patterns, colour palettes, and textures for a collection of textile pieces and wall-based artworks. Through hands-on exploration of fabrics, layering, and mark-making, participants experimented with combinations that felt calming, stimulating, or grounding, sharing personal responses to colour and touch. This process allowed them to shape the sensory language of the work, ensuring it reflects lived experience and supports emotional regulation.
Alongside the making sessions, the group considered where these artworks would have the most meaningful impact within the building. Through discussion and reflection, they identified the ‘Crossroads’ area – a communal transitional space as the location. Patients expressed a desire for this space to feel more inviting and energised, recognising its potential to benefit from the presence of vibrant yet soothing textile interventions in what is a shared environment for both everyday encounters and moments of pause.
Following co-production workshops, the three commissions have now been installed and launched.
