The Pathway to 144 Mental Health Beds Project (the P144 Project) is a direct response to the recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, which called for an additional 144 acute inpatient public mental health beds to help address critical pressures within the mental health system in Victoria. 

As part of the P144 Project, the Sunshine Mental Health & Wellbeing Centre (SMH&WC) has delivered an additional 52 adult inpatient mental health beds in a step towards addressing the current high demand for beds, enabling the development of contemporary models of care and strengthening the focus on recovery and reintegration into the community. 

The links between art and health outcomes are well documented. Hospitals internationally and across Australia recognise the importance of art in the psychology of healing and wellbeing. Art has a clear contribution to make and offers significant opportunities in the delivery of better health, wellbeing and improved experience for consumers, service users and staff. 

The emphasis for the public art commissioned for this context was about creating an innovative ‘residential’ feel as opposed to a banal clinical environment. There was also the desire to make the artwork inspiring and engaging for the benefit of all service users. 

In October 2022 Arts Eleven was engaged to work with the SMH&WC Art Reference Group to identify suitable artists to create works for 28 sites throughout the new building and associated groundlink based on these guiding principles.

Throughout December 2022 Arts Eleven did a call out for artists to submit an Expression of Interest to have their work included in the new facility. With radio advertisements on Melbourne’s RRR FM, a feature on Arts Hub and extensive use of sponsored posts on social media, the response was extraordinary. Almost 200 EOI submissions were received. The Art Reference Group shortlisted 26 of those submissions – 24 individual artists and two collaborations.

The shortlisted artists were paid to develop a concept based on architectural renders, information sessions with Art Reference Group members and an information pack compiled by Arts Eleven. From the 26 submissions considered by the Reference Group in March 2023, 17 artists were selected to create site-specific works for the SMH&WC.