Our approach
Our arts and wellbeing programme explores how our historic story of care still resonates today by addressing stigma and supporting mental health. Our approach is to work holistically, establishing collaborations with local health and community partners. In addition to our programme of creative workshops, we participate in a variety of arts and health initiatives including Creative Health City, exploring how the health, social care and cultural sectors can work together to tackle health inequalities across London.
Home-Start Camden & Islington
Since 2023 we have been working in partnership with Home-Start Camden & Islington to deliver a parental care programme, supporting local at-risk families with children under 5. With childcare provided by 1A Children’s Centre, the weekly sessions support parents’ wellbeing through creative activities and connecting with others. The history of the Foundling Hospital, and its stories of maternity, childhood, love and loss provide creative inspiration and a connection between past and present.
From 2023-24, we worked with artist Laura X Carlé on a series of projects exploring ‘artful motherhood’. The programme drew inspiration from the pioneering role women played in establishing the Foundling Hospital, and made connections with our exhibitions Finding Family and The Mother & the Weaver. Projects celebrated the resilience of mothers and the physicality of the maternal body through creative practice.
In 2025, artist Nicole Morris will lead on a new iteration of the project, using textiles and creative writing to explore themes of motherhood, memory-making and metamorphosis. Questions explored will include ‘how do we change as we become mothers?’ and ‘are we still the same people as before?‘.
Every Wednesday made my week, inspired me, made me more positive.
Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health
In 2024 we developed a new partnership with the Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health in Newham, an inpatient service for young people with complex and severe mental health difficulties. Artist Nicole Morris facilitated two creative projects, running in the spring and autumn. Young people were invited to explore the Foundling Museum’s story through themes of care, displacement and identity. The projects culminated in permanent artworks displayed at the Coborn Centre – a large-scale calico work and a wall painting.
I haven’t seen as much engagement for anything else.
Lewisham Virtual School
In 2025, we are partnering with Lewisham Virtual School to develop a programme supporting looked-after children, in particular unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Working with artist Shepherd Manyika, the programme will explore the Foundling Hospital’s story through themes of identity, migration and displacement.
Mind in Camden
From 2021-2025 we partnered with Mind in Camden’s Healthy Minds Community Programme on art projects that support mental health through creativity and working together, taking inspiration from the Museum’s story of care and social activism.
In 2021-2022, artist Katriona Beales developed a series of projects. Love~in~Knots took inspiration from the ribbons in our tokens collection, symbols of love and affection. The project interlaced traditional craft-based techniques with digital scanning and image-making, transforming materials and adding layers of meaning. Emblems For the Future drew on the Foundling Hospital’s emblem designed by 18th-century artist William Hogarth to develop the group’s own emblems, creating a collaborative limited-edition print of unique symbols.
From 2022 to 2023, we worked with artist Charlene Sandy. The Fabric of Things introduced hands-on processes used in the pre-industrial revolution period, such as paper-making, weaving and natural dyeing. The project went back to basics – exploring how things are made and working with the idea of ‘using what you’ve got’. Narrative Threads: Stitching Stories introduced participants to stitching and image-transfer processes, to develop a body of work drawing on imagery that ranged from personal photographs to objects encountered in the Museum.
In 2024, artist Nicole Morris led on Filling Gaps. Drawing inspiration from our exhibition The Mother & The Weaver, the project explored themes of maternal presence and absence, love and loss, through embroidery, weaving and repairing techniques. The final textile works intentionally left an incompleteness that mirrors the ever-fluid nature of life itself. ‘If you can resolve something here, in your work, you can do so in life’, said one of our participants.
From 2024-2025, we facilitated ‘Maker Space,’ a creative programme that explored the Foundling Museum’s stories and exhibitions through studio-based practice. Inspired by the exhibition Self-Made: Reshaping Identities the group made clay containers for whatever they chose: hopes, dreams, fears, keys, objects of value, ‘tokens.’ Another project invited the group to be “open to the new” through experimental making processes, and created links with the Foundling story of new beginnings.
This has been the highlight of the last five years for me.