The Wilton Gallery & artist John Short collaborated to create and install a large scale artwork at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, Dublin. The installation is a charitable donation with the assistance of Framing Direct.The artwork revolutionizes the hospital environment for patients, relatives, and staff. 

This limited edition 1/1 print on two aluminium panels (190 x 220cm & 190 x 110cm b/f) is a work by John Short, which will be on view at the hospital and displayed close to the aquatic physiotherapy area. The image depicts the Forty Foot in South County Dublin, Ireland is an iconic all-year-round outdoor bathing place. The backdrop is the granite wall of a Martello fort and magazine, a 19th century series of defensive forts and towers around Ireland. Short has travelled widely over the world, capturing individuals in their natural habitats with watercolour and ink paintings. His watercolours and 3D sculptures of bathers are well-known, especially at the Forty Foot.

A spokesperson from the NRH said “We are delighted and most grateful to receive this very generous donation and to install this piece by Wilton Gallery and Artist John Short in our new state-of-art-hospital. Within the hospital, art and the built environment play an important role in patient, family and staff wellbeing and healing. This installation is a very welcome addition and will have a positive impact for patients of the hospital and their families and visitors.” She added, “ There is growing evidence that visual art in hospitals contributes to the wellbeing of both staff and patients with emerging evidence that visual art in the hospital environment can have a positive impact on overall health outcomes.”

The National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) provides Complex Specialist Rehabilitation services to patients who, as a result of an accident, illness or Injury, have acquired a physical or cognitive disability and require a specialist programme of rehabilitation.

Backed by over 60 years of experience, clinical expertise and a solid reputation for excellence, the NRH provides patients with every opportunity to meet their rehabilitation goals through personalised treatment plans delivered by its Consultant-led Interdisciplinary Teams.

Rehabilitation Programmes at the NRH are tailored to meet the individual needs of adult and paediatric patients in the following areas of speciality:

· Acquired Brain Injury (including, traumatic, non-traumatic brain injury and other neurological conditions)

· Stroke Specialty Programme

· Spinal Cord System of Care (including, traumatic, non-traumatic spinal cord injury)

· Prosthetic, Orthotic and Limb Absence Rehabilitation (POLAR)

· Paediatric Family-Centred Rehabilitation

The NRH is a fully publicly funded hospital and operates on the ethos of providing high-quality care and treatment to patients irrespective of background or status but on the basis of clinical need. It is a tertiary referral hospital and the only hospital of its type in the country.

Image: Louise Quinn, NRH Therapist, Ritika Callow (Wilton Gallery) and Artist John Short