I have been approached by an employee who wants to teach painting classes in the hospital.  This would be in a central location, not in individual patient rooms.  Do any of you do this at your hospitals?  If so , who do you invite to paint and how do you invite them?

We do not do this in an acute care setting, but, do it in long term care.  The "event" is posted on a monthly calendar and all residents receive a copy of the calendar.  Whomever is up to participating in the event for the day is welcome to attend.  Perhaps it could be done through a rehab area.

We did this on only one occasion.  A local artist from the community came to offer a one time session for about 2 hours.  We did this for our volunteers as a "fun" event, but they did have to pay for the session.   They all went away with a painting that they could display in their home for the holidays or give as a gift.  The paintings were very cute and the volunteers had a lot of fun.  We did this in the cafeteria where set up/clean up was very easy.

We have an award winning Arts in Medicine program and I am blessed with an exceptional Expressive Arts Coordinator.  (who is a certified Art Therapist who works for us part time)   She takes painting to the staff recommended patients as well as offering occasional art classes FREE  to our staff or volunteers.  She gives the paints in small condiment containers to cut down on mess and waste.  The patients relax more doing an "art" activity.   She trains volunteers to take the Art Cart around and manages to keep it supplied for little more than $200 per month.  I happy to share more info with anyone.