Griffith Base Hospital Paediatric Ward
Through a co-creation approach with local students, the artwork in the Paediatric Ward at Griffith Base Hospital is unashamedly ‘Griffith’, capturing the diversity of their community through drawings and stories.
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Co-creation workshops
Digital artwork creation
Envirographics finalisation and production
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March 2023 - March 2025
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Art isn't created in isolation, and this work only exists because of the extraordinary humans around it.
Co-creation: Kalinda School, St Patricks Primary School, Murrumbidgee Regional High School (Wade and Griffith Campus’)
Client - Murrumbidgee Local Health District
Project Development - Health Infrastructure
Project Management - Turner and Townsend
Strategy - DJRD Architects
Curation: The Cad Factory
Contractor - ADCO
Fabricators - AW Signs
Installers - Dobija
“We’re very lucky that there’s been a lot of collaboration with staff and with the community and the artwork definitely represents the diversity of the community we have here in Griffith.””
Two years of creative chaos, countless croissants, and complete commitment later, 'Are We There Yet?' a body of work co-created with Griffith Schools has been installed as envirographics across 90 square metres of corridors and ceilings within the Paediatric In-patient unit.
It’s a celebration of the joyous moments we experience as children on our journey’s to visit loved ones. It’s a collection of moments to remind us as adults, *why* we journey in the first place.
Awe. Connection. Identity.
Why co-creation?
Some research for those playing at home: Dr. Matthew Lieberman discovered something incredible: when your brain isn't busy with work, navigating through life or what to have for dinner (pasta?!), it automatically thinks about friends, family, and whether you fit in.
Creating the concept for this work was a process heavily informed by co-creation with students at both Murrumbidgee High School campuses, St Patricks, and Kalinda School. The students spoke enthusiastically of wellbeing and connection to their community, and of the local gems sprinkled throughout. They told stories about what it’s like to live here – from feelings of calm surrounded by nature and wildlife, to motivation from participation in sports, and the abundance of good food.
It’s why you’ll see the roads in the artwork are actually pasta, activated by a gregarious cockatoo in the lift lobby, that’s swung by the hospital for a visit after flying over to check up on the goats around Hermit’s Cave. Happy accidents encountered on a journey around the ward, will spark moments of joy and distraction.
And here’s the magic part: when patients, carers and clinical staff see this artwork, their brains will instantly recognise the stories.
Image: Griffith Base Hospital Co-creation Workshops
Image: Griffith Base Hospital Co-creation Workshop drawing
Lift lobby artwork detail: An abstract Griffith landscape from scenic hill.
Art as the highest form of hope
As Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen (and before them, Thomas Merton) have explored in their book, Your Brain on Art, “art allows us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” It fosters introspection and a deeper understanding of our own identities.
Since the newly redeveloped Griffith Base Hospital opened in June 2025, it’s been fascinating to hear first-hand, how people are responding to the art.
Locals recognise the familiar road to Lake Wyangan and feel instantly ‘seen’, others exclaim with joy they realise they can follow a long network of ‘spaghetti roads’ along the corridor. They are reminded of the awe they experience from the vistas of Cocoparra National Park, and the textures of ever-changing farmland that surrounds their community.
They’ll see the bin chicken sculpted from oranges (IYKYK), hidden pickles, golden orbs of music dancing along the Gugaa/Goanna shaped river, a gregarious Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, the infamous goats of hermit’s cave, puffs of cotton alongside Irrigation Way, and soooo much more - depending on where they look, or what they’re going through.
Instead of feeling scared and alone, they may think, “Other people from my area have been here,” or “I belong to something bigger than *just* being in hospital."
As a result, the hospital walls now serve as a way for everyone's brains to feel connected instead of isolated.
Artists impression: Corridor artwork from the lift lobby to surgical entrance and staff entrance.
Adding to service delivery
Clinical staff can also use envirographics as an instrument to support their Models of Care, patient agency and comfort. The allocation of supporting resources invite patients to see, feel, and imagine, circuit-breaking their associations with what can otherwise be negative health experiences.
In such a vulnerable time and place, the Arts can be a bridge that connects patients and families, and helps them process difficult emotions or health experiences.
Image: The allocation of supporting resources invite patients to see, feel, and imagine, circuit-breaking their associations with what can otherwise be negative health experiences.
Image: A height chart artwork featuring landmarks from Griffith and surrounds is a practical and an engaging way for clinical staff to invite patients to interact with the work.
Image: Corridor detail. The Guyana / Goanna artwork was informed by students at Kalinda School, St Patricks Schools, and Murrumbidgee Regional High School (Wade and Griffith Campus')
Image: A closer look at one of the co-creation drawings which informed the narrative and visual direction of the work.
“In the artwork creation phase it’s my role to create a cohesive visual language that reflects the local community, it’s Aboriginal and Multicultural diversity, to help create a healing environment. An artist has a responsibility to look inside the hearts of people and see their own considerations about identity and what it means to be human. In such a vulnerable time and place, the Arts can be a bridge that connects patients and families, and helps them process difficult emotions or health experiences. ”