Imperial Health Charity’s art team brings art into Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in an exciting and innovative way, enhancing the healthcare environment for patients, staff and visitors.

The team manages a busy engagement programme, bringing art workshops, music, gardening and dance to patients and staff. From elderly care wards to paediatrics, the engagement programme offers artistic opportunities to patients across the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Working with London museums and galleries, the engagement programme has grown extensively to bring exciting projects to patients both within and outside the hospital.

The arts team also manages an Arts Council-accredited hospital art collection. As part of the visual arts programme, the team run an active acquisitions and commissions programme, along with three temporary exhibition spaces. The collection focuses on modern and contemporary British art. Recent commissions and exhibitions include Sunil Gupta, Mark Titchner, Frea Buckler, Bindi Vora and Josef and Anni Albers.

Purpose of Job

The Community Arts Engagement Manager will work closely with the Arts Engagement Curator to deliver our busy Beyond Our Walls programme, which curates innovative creative activities for patients at discharge, patients living with chronic conditions, and with the wider north-west London community. With a particular focus on issues around local population health, the post-holder will develop art projects which aim to improve health outcomes, combatting social isolation, unemployment and health-related stigma. The role will maintain and develop relationships with wider north-west London communities, seeking opportunities to create partnerships which offer our patients and staff creative opportunities outside of our hospital sites. This includes project management of creative projects, strategic partnership development and monitoring and evaluation. The role will also involve supporting projects engaging our NHS staff community, including our Staff Arts Club.

Dimensions and Scope of Job

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1.      Strategic development of community engagement

·       Research, plan and implement arts projects for our hospital community, focusing on tackling key issues around population health. This particularly involves the co-development of projects from concept to delivery, in collaboration with clinical contacts and service users, within our current strategic priority areas: cancer care, women’s health, children’s health, frailty, and NHS staff wellbeing. This includes working closely with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s Population Health Strategy Unit.

·       Research and development of new strategic partners in the local community, particularly including arts and cultural organisations, charities and public services.

Oversight of the Imperial Health Charity Staff Arts Club, our free membership offers to Trust staff.  This includes overseeing the day-to-day tasks carried out by the Arts Administrator, including regular staff mailings, event management, and relationship management with partner galleries.

·       To work closely with the Arts Engagement Curator and philanthropy team to develop funding bids for funding applications and reports.

·       To collaborate with charity colleagues in our grants and volunteering teams to share learning about local community needs and co-develop projects.

·       To collaborate with the curator and arts engagement curator to develop projects offering visual art interventions, such as pop-up exhibitions, in the community.

2.     Management of day-to-day activities and operations

·       Project Management of a variety of projects, including partnership development, management of freelance artist facilitators and co-management of project budgets

·       Artist support and mentoring

·       Evaluate the programme in partnership with the Impact and Evaluation Manager, continuously evaluating the impact of the programme and working towards best practice.

·       Contribute to our communications activity, in print and digital media. In collaboration with Trust staff, members of the Staff Arts Club, workshop facilitators, artists, and other key stakeholders involved in the programme. This includes regularly updating and redesigning the arts engagement pages on the website.

·       Ensure that risk assessments for health, safety and safeguarding are actively monitored and maintained for all arts engagement activities, ensuring that the charity’s Safeguarding Policy and Code of Behaviour are adhered to.

·       Champion our Code of Behaviour and act as a role model, ensuring that our Safeguarding and other key policies and procedures are always adhered to so as to protect the people we work with and our reputation

·       Active contribution to engagement programme policies, including the remote workshop policy and risk assessments.

As part of the arts team, the Community Arts Engagement Manager may also be asked to:

·       Support curatorial projects by attending the site for installation of new artworks and new exhibitions, preparing labels and liaising with contractors.

·       Support the team with the preparation and delivery of public events, both in the run-up to and during events.

IMPERIAL HEALTH CHARITY

PERSON SPECIFICATION

JOB TITLE: COMMUNITY ARTS ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

Essential

Education and qualifications

BA Degree in a relevant subject or sufficient working experience

High standard of literacy – to speak, present and write with clarity and precision

Desirable

MA qualification in participatory arts, music, theatre studies, art history, or fine art

Previous Experience

Proven experience working in an inclusive, community-centred role

Experience developing arts projects within a community setting

Strong ability to use technology in all aspects of work, including designing resources, with a high proficiency in Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), internet browsers and web-based systems, CRM databases

Experience supporting larger collaborative arts projects such as art, music or dance events or displays.

Skills, knowledge and ability

Knowledge of contemporary socially engaged arts practice

An understanding of arts and health initiatives, such as the role of link-workers and social prescribing

An understanding of the NHS and issues around healthcare

Have an awareness of issues of equity and cultural diversity

An understanding of key issues affecting communities, particularly social isolation, unemployment, and discrimination.

Knowledge and passion about community-driven arts projects

Experience in developing partnerships

A track record of consistent accuracy and an eye for detail

Ability to manage a varied workload in a busy environment

Ability to work collaboratively and independently 

Understanding and commitment to safeguarding principles

Knowledge of particular challenges facing communities in north-west London

An understanding and interest in wider national conversations about arts and health

Personal

Personable and able to work with a wide range of people

Empathy for working within a hospital environment

A commitment to the values and principles upon which the NHS operates.

A strong commitment to equity and diversity, including a willingness to contribute to workplace initiatives

Commitment to teamwork with a willingness to get involved in all aspects of the charity’s work

Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the role, including evenings and weekends, to support events

An understanding of the ethos and objectives within a healthcare charity

No envisaged barriers to obtaining enhanced disclosure.