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Joy Garden Courtyard / Morag Myerscough
Text description provided by the architects. Morag Myerscough’s first project at Sheffield Children’s Hospital – which saw four designs across forty-six en-suite bedrooms, secured her close connection and commitment to the hospital, its patients, and its staff and in-turn provided the initial inspiration for her most personal project to date, the Joy Garden.
After a site visit with Cat Powell, former Head of The Children’s Hospital Charity’s arts program, Artfelt, they both knew the value of the underused outside courtyard space, and the difference it could make to children, families, and staff. Understanding the difficulty of securing funding projects for hospitals, Morag personally approached method, creators of future-friendly cleaning and personal care products, who she had been working with on a limited edition product range.
This project, without having to only rely on charity and philanthropy, signifies hope in a certain kind of activism, where artists and brands can work proactively together to catalyze change and bring real necessary good into the public realm.
‘Fragrance and color workshop sessions were held by Morag at the hospital with families, staff, and a fragrance expert from the method. A further aspect of collaboration can be seen in the garden’s geometrical color-infused floor patterns, originally designed for another public artwork initiative in London, which when canceled enabled the artist to repurpose them for use within the hospital garden.
It was essential for Morag to work with local craftspeople to finalize the build, she worked with Sheffield fabricator Design Workshop Ltd for the main structure of the Joy Garden, while the panels were painted by Morag in her studio using YesColours who gifted the paint to the project.
