The Moments that Matter need our Support

By Andrew Koch, Board Member, Inscape Tasmania

Over the years, I have witnessed the remarkable impact that art and music can have in healthcare settings.

I have seen patients reconnect with memories through a familiar song. I have seen families gather around a bedside artwork that sparked conversation during difficult times. I have seen healthcare workers pause for a moment in a demanding day to experience the comfort and connection that creativity can bring.

These moments may seem small, but they matter profoundly.

For the past ten years, Inscape Tas Inc has been bringing professional artists and musicians into hospitals and healthcare settings across Southern Tasmania. Through bedside music, visual arts, storytelling, artist residencies and public performances, Inscape creates opportunities for connection, dignity and expression at times when people are often at their most vulnerable.

Inscape artist Rebecca Coote facilitates a printmaking workshop in the Royal Hobart Hospital staff tearoom to create artwork to enliven hospital wards. Photo by Laura Purcell

Importantly, this work complements clinical care. It supports wellbeing, reduces isolation and helps people reconnect with their identity beyond illness, injury or circumstance.

Every year, Inscape artists support more than 1,000 patients across Southern Tasmania, bringing music, storytelling and visual arts directly into hospital wards, clinics and bedside environments.

In that time, over 220 LifeScape artworks have been created and gifted to patients and their families — personal stories transformed into illustrated works that remain long after a hospital stay. Weekly live music performances bring sound and presence into shared hospital spaces, while bedside music visits reach around 30 patients each week at the Royal Hobart Hospital alone.

Artists also contribute through residencies embedded in health services, working across wards and rehabilitation settings, helping create environments where patients, families and staff can experience moments of calm, recognition and connection.

Behind every program is a team of highly skilled professional artists, supported by dedicated staff and a committed volunteer board. Together, they have built a respected arts and health organisation that continues to make a meaningful difference in our community.

Yet despite its impact, Inscape's future is not guaranteed.

Inscape musician Crystal Livermore plays in a local clinic waiting room for patients waiting for test results. Photo by Laura Purcell

As a not-for-profit charity, many of our programs rely on philanthropy, sponsorship and community donations. We are fortunate to receive support from generous donors, volunteers and partners who believe in the value of arts in healthcare. However, funding certainty remains one of our greatest challenges.

Without new support, some of Inscape's arts and music programs may not continue beyond 2026.

For the first time in our ten-year history, we face the very real possibility that programs delivering bedside music, visual arts and creative engagement could be reduced or lost. The demand for our work continues to grow, but the resources needed to sustain it have become increasingly difficult to secure.

Inscape Artist Bec Stevens with her hospital – trolley turned garden trolley – bringing the garden to residents at the Roy Fagan Centre. Photo Natasha Mulhall

Every day, Inscape artists create opportunities for connection, dignity and comfort in places where people are often facing uncertainty, loss or significant change.

These moments happen at hospital bedsides, in rehabilitation units, in waiting areas and in wards across Southern Tasmania. They help patients reconnect with memories, families find comfort and healthcare staff experience moments of reflection and respite during demanding days.

To continue this work, we need your support.

A one-off tax-deductible donation will help sustain programs today. A regular monthly contribution will help create certainty for tomorrow. Sponsorship and philanthropic partnerships can help ensure artists continue bringing creativity, connection and humanity into healthcare settings throughout 2027 and beyond.

If you have experienced the power of music, art or storytelling in your own life, or witnessed the difference it can make during times of illness and recovery, I invite you to support Inscape Tas.

Together, we can ensure these moments of connection remain available to the patients, families and healthcare workers who need them most.