We are looking for artwork for the Red Kite View Art Gallery which will reside in the main reception of the new hospital. Our ARTS STRATEGY aims to create a safe, clinically appropriate space that uses the arts to provide visual appeal but that also offers a recovering well, and inspiring environment which aims to address some of the wider challenges faced by young people through acknowledging the role that creativity has to play.

This new £20 million unit, to be known as Red Kite View, will accommodate a new enhanced Children and Young People’s Mental Health Inpatient Service (previously known as CAMHS). The new unit will include 22 inpatient beds and much needed improvements and facilities for children and young people across West Yorkshire.

This will include a range of spacious and therapeutic areas, including a multi-purpose activity room, educational facilities, a family visiting room, courtyards and a green communal space for service users and staff. The plans for the new unit were developed with young people and their families, and will deliver a high quality environment and the best possible care for young people.

At the end of December 2020, and following consultation with residents at York’s Mill Lodge, Leeds’ Little Woodhouse Hall, and Youth Board members, the name of the CAMHS unit will be – Red Kite View.

The Kite is a bird that is well-established in West Yorkshire, and it can also be something fun that you fly in the sky. The name lends itself well to further naming of the two wards at the unit, as well as a theme for the internal artwork, so Board members felt this name would appeal to young people across different ages.

In line with our Arts Strategy, our hopes are;

• To improve the visual appeal of the hospital so it is valued by residents and staff and so that visitors have a positive and inspiring experience
• To consider the impact of the art within the building on its residents and staff not only aesthetically, but by embedding a recovering and staying well through the arts and creativity ethos in the clinical model
• To develop ongoing and evolving creative engagement possibilities for young people, staff and stakeholders
• To ensure that at its completion we have developed an environment that moves, evolves and offers inspiration, connection and beauty
• To invest in the arts from diverse external sources across the whole region

We would like to invite artists from across the West Yorkshire region to submit work to be installed within the Red Kite View gallery space. 

Artists will be paid £250 per selected artwork.