Jane Willis
Jane Willis is the founder and director of Willis Newson, one of the UK’s leading arts and health consultancies.
Willis Newson uses the arts and creativity to support wellbeing. It delivers sensitive, inspiring and inclusive arts projects that improve quality of life, and it takes a creative and ambitious approach to integrating art and architecture to create excellent healthcare environments.
Jane has 20 years' experience delivering award-winning, large-scale, integrated arts programmes in healthcare. She has an excellent knowledge and understanding of healthcare, the needs of patients, and of the arts. She is able to marry these areas of expertise to produce inspiring creative programmes that improve health and wellbeing, enhance healthcare environments and support the patient experience.
Jane has been a pioneer of the arts and health field since 1994, when she set up and directed Vital Arts, the arts programme for Bart's Health NHS Trust. She was a founding member of both the London Arts in Health Forum and the National Alliance for Arts and Health, and was also a founding member and chair of Arts and Health South West from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, she was chair of Culture, Health and Wellbeing, a major international arts and health conference held by Arts and Health South West.
She has lectured and presented widely in the UK, USA and Taiwan, and has taught on arts and health MA courses across the UK. She has recently worked with the University of West of England to develop a series of post-graduate arts and health programmes.
As well as having a particular interest in healthcare environments and the role that arts and creativity can play in supporting positive mental health, Jane is committed to furthering knowledge, understanding and evidence around the benefits of creativity, culture and wellbeing. Working in partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE) Faculty of Health and Social Care, Willis Newson actively supports the development of creative and credible approaches to arts and health evaluation. Willis Newson is currently undergoing a one-year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding knowledge exchange with UWE, and offers a specialist arts and health evaluation service designed to assess the impact of projects.
Willis Newson uses the arts and creativity to support wellbeing. It delivers sensitive, inspiring and inclusive arts projects that improve quality of life, and it takes a creative and ambitious approach to integrating art and architecture to create excellent healthcare environments.
Jane has 20 years' experience delivering award-winning, large-scale, integrated arts programmes in healthcare. She has an excellent knowledge and understanding of healthcare, the needs of patients, and of the arts. She is able to marry these areas of expertise to produce inspiring creative programmes that improve health and wellbeing, enhance healthcare environments and support the patient experience.
Jane has been a pioneer of the arts and health field since 1994, when she set up and directed Vital Arts, the arts programme for Bart's Health NHS Trust. She was a founding member of both the London Arts in Health Forum and the National Alliance for Arts and Health, and was also a founding member and chair of Arts and Health South West from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, she was chair of Culture, Health and Wellbeing, a major international arts and health conference held by Arts and Health South West.
She has lectured and presented widely in the UK, USA and Taiwan, and has taught on arts and health MA courses across the UK. She has recently worked with the University of West of England to develop a series of post-graduate arts and health programmes.
As well as having a particular interest in healthcare environments and the role that arts and creativity can play in supporting positive mental health, Jane is committed to furthering knowledge, understanding and evidence around the benefits of creativity, culture and wellbeing. Working in partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE) Faculty of Health and Social Care, Willis Newson actively supports the development of creative and credible approaches to arts and health evaluation. Willis Newson is currently undergoing a one-year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding knowledge exchange with UWE, and offers a specialist arts and health evaluation service designed to assess the impact of projects.
