Arts in Health at SALHN

photo of paintings on display at Flinders Medical Centre
SALHN Arts in Health is a service based at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC), working to enhance care and the hospital environment and making it a calming and more welcoming place to visit.

By offering a broad range of music, performance and visual arts activities that support patient recovery, Arts in Health promotes health and wellbeing in patients, staff, and visitors.

Integrating diverse art therapies and activities into patient care enhances healing by providing them with empowering tools to process trauma, creatively express complex emotions, and to make sense of their health challenges.

The program, established in 1996, is one of the strongest hospital-based arts in health programs in Australia, with a national and international reputation for high quality and innovative programming.

See Arts in Health at SALHN Services (PDF 316KB) for a full list of services provided. 

Gut Feelings Initiative


Gut Feelings is an initiative that brings together art, science, and healthcare to amplify our understanding of the connections between the soil microbiome, the gut microbiome, and mental wellbeing.

This initiative is led by SALHN’s Arts in Health and Dietetics teams based at Flinders Medical Centre, and delivered in partnership with Flinders University College of Science and Engineering, the City of Onkaparinga, SALA Festival.

Local artist Jake Holmes has developed a series of immersive works that invite us to reflect on what we can’t see, but deeply feel: how the health of the land and the health of the mind are connected through our gut. Read more about Jake’s exhibition.

This initiative also includes a series of public forums and community arts workshops in local community centres and libraries led by the City of Onkaparinga.

Together, these elements seek to make complex science accessible, invite public reflection, and enhance holistic understanding of health.

The Gut Feelings exhibition will be presented at Flinders Medical Centre during SALA (the South Australian Living Artists Festival), Mental Health Month and Nutrition Week - and is on display now until the end of October 2025.

Exhibitions

There are a number of galleries for the display of exhibitions that contribute to cultivating a healing hospital environment.

If you are interested in exhibiting your artwork in one of the galleries, please contact artsinhealth@sa.gov.au.

Arts in Health have also partnered with Ku Arts to deliver an exhibition program at FMC showcasing works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across the central and western desert.

The team

Arts in Health is provided by a committed team of an arts manager and assistant, art therapists, music therapists and practitioners. The team work across the wards and public spaces of the hospital providing performance-based and interactive arts activities and responding to specific patient referrals and requests.

Online videos

To view Arts in Health online videos, please access the SALHN Arts in Health YouTube channel (accessible using Chrome browser).

Referrals

Staff, patients and visitors can request Arts in Health services by contacting the office below:

    Contact details

    Telephone: (08) 8204 3096
    Email: artsinhealth@sa.gov.au
    Mail: Arts in Health at FMC, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, SA 5042

    Location:The Promenade, Level 2, Flinders Medical Centre (near Duck lifts) Flinders Drive, Bedford Park SA 5042
    Directions: Use Western Carpark, enter through Northern Entrance
    Take corridor to end and turn right, destination will be on the left after Duck lifts.
    Map: Flinders Medical Centre Site Map (PDF 133KB)