Art Doctors

The Art Doctors playfully break down barriers to participation in art and culture, and explore the positive role of creativity in all our lives.

Check out our Resources Section below for films, written materials, and information about our Creative Weekenders, and for what we can offer organisations looking to improve staff wellbeing, galleries and museums, and festivals.

We gather near art galleries, at events and online, wearing our paint splattered coats and stethoscopes, and with prescription pads at the ready. We may prescribe art to look at or everyday creative activities to try at home, we make films, we write, and we work with all sorts of different people, from social prescribers and healthcare professionals to radio presenters, students, artists and even people just hanging out on the street.

We love thinking about art and creativity as a starting point for conversations and we firmly believe that every response is valid and important, whether you see yourself as an expert or not. We also believe in the power of FUN.

The Art Doctors are Leeds-based artists Alison McIntyre and Liz Stirling, with regular special guest appearances from consultants, specialists and junior doctors.

During lockdown from March 2020 we made a total of 15 short films where we tried out some of the creative activities we could no longer prescribe to people at events.

Why did we do it? Just to amuse ourselves? Well partly, we were in lockdown after all, but we always hoped that other people would find them funny too, and maybe they would even help someone else to feel a bit better.

Here’s the introduction. You can watch all 15 Lockdown Special films on our YouTube playlist

Resources

Events

Event archive

  • Wellbeing Activities at Thackray Museum of Medicine

    Mon, 23 August 2021 - Thu, 2 September 2021

    We worked with visitors to Thackray Museum of Medicine on activities connected to wellbeing. Together we built a SUPER GUT…

  • Emergency Museum at Kirklees Festival

    Sat, 13 July 2019 - Sat, 13 July 2019

    We teamed up with Thackray’s Emergency Museum (a vintage ambulance that was touring around Leeds while the museum was being…

  • Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? Exhibition

    Tue, 23 April 2019 - Sat, 27 April 2019

    The culmination of our Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? project was an exhibition at Leeds Kirkgate market, where we showcased…

  • Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? Leeds Art Gallery Takeover

    Sat, 24 November 2018 - Sat, 24 November 2018

    As part of Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? we took over Leeds Art Gallery, offering prescriptions,  slipper-making so that you…

  • Chapel Allerton Arts Festival

    Sat, 1 September 2018 - Sat, 1 September 2018

    We set up an Art Doctor Clinic at Chapel Allerton Arts Festival and prescribed creative activities for people to take…

  • Love Arts Festival

    Sat, 14 October 2017 - Sat, 14 October 2017

    We prescribed artworks in Leeds Art Gallery, focussing on health and wellbeing, as part of the Love Arts Festival.

  • Park Here and Play

    Sun, 13 August 2017 - Sun, 13 August 2017

    As the Art Gallery was closed for refurbishment, we prescribed two minutes of focussed looking at art works from the…

  • British Art Show 8

    Sat, 31 October 2015 - Sun, 24 July 2016

    The very first incarnation of the Art Doctors, prescribing work in the British Art Show 8 in Leeds and then…

Art Doctors online

Funders