Dr Claire Hooker

As I wrap up my final year as President of the Arts Health Network NSW/ACT, I’m filled with gratitude and pride. I’ve really felt that this year has been transformative for AHNNA, in part because we’ve worked across the whole sector for our common goals.

Justice and equity are at the heart of our work, and they start with and are led by artists

In a world that doesn’t always value their labour, artists are quietly doing the work of minding, reconnecting, and tending to what is frayed in our communities. Again and again, the artists and community workers in the AHNNA network remind me that care is inseparable from justice. To practise justice means to acknowledge artists for their leadership, their labour, and the futures they imagine and bring into being. Artists are often the first to offer their time, energy, and expertise, and the first to respond to real and urgent needs within our communities. And they are often the last to be paid or recognised – including by myself and by others who have privileges such as continuing salaries and respected positions in a society that does not afford these things for the artists who reknit the ravelled sleeves of the hurting world. AHNNA’s responsibility is to see this disparity clearly and continue to not only value the work of artists working in a health space but also celebrate the work they do. It is an important and ongoing mission in the arts health community.

This could not have been better exemplified than in the first project of 2025: the AHNNA Creative Exchange held on January 30, 2025, in collaboration with the Refugee Art Project (RAP) in Ashfield, Sydney’s Inner West. Conceived and painstakingly and caringly organised by Diane Busuttil from Creative Caring, provided collaboratively with Safdar Ahmed from the Refugee Art Project @refugeeartproject, then AHNNA Secretary Gail Kenning, Michelle Jersky from Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (Randwick) and Tom Isaacs, and centered around the theme of “HOME,” participants were guided through movement exercises, artistic expressions, and collaborative craft activities. This work is the core of Arts and Health and our most important mission is to see and celebrate it.

Creating Impact

At the risk of corporate-speak creeping into this article, I can say that we’ve really extended our reach and our effectiveness in 2025. A lot of this came from dedicated behind the scenes work: we’ve completely overhauled our website, our operations, the way we run events, our communications systems. That’s meant we’ve doubled our membership and our income, which in turn means that we can do more work for our members.

Our national policy webinar in June drew 225 registrations, to hear Special Envoy for the Arts the Hon Susan Templeman MP, the Australian Health Infrastructure Alliance/ NSW Arts and Health Lead Brigette Uren, the incoming Executive Director of CREATE NSW Kerri Glasscock, and Director of ASPIRE A/Prof J R Baker, discuss policy directions for Arts and Health. You can find the recording on the CREATE Centre YouTube channel.

We’ve continued to promote our Profiles project – with 15 new member Profiles shortly to hit our website! We’ve partnered with SPHERE to support a series of practice exchanges through their Lunch and Learn program. And we continue to discuss extensions of The Cad Factory’s mini mentorships program.

Building the Future: Arts and Health
Our flagship event on September 26 was a standout day that attracted over 160 online attendees, 115 in-person participants (from around Australia, too), and an additional 40 livestream viewers from South Australia. The energy was uplifting, the conversations rich and thoughtful, and often difficult – as they should be. These conversations really served to underscore for me how important our mission to share knowledge and connect the sector and enable grass roots conversations about the issues that matter to us, continues to be.

What’s next? That’s up to our new Executive team, who we can’t wait to introduce you to! Ideas include meetings and collaborations where we work together – maybe to co-develop creative videos for our Profiles, or to share our practice; extending mini mentorships to health professionals who would like to learn how to access and incorporate the arts into their practice; and capitalising on our strengths and role to continue to voice our concerns and hopes at a national level.

Last But Not Least – Thank You
To our Executive Committee, our volunteers, and every member of this incredible sector: thank you. Your commitment, creativity, and generosity have made these achievements possible. Everyone in this Network is quite extraordinary, and Network allows us to see and benefit from this. It is the greatest privilege of my life to have your trust and to have served you in some way.

Slogan for 2026: “Together, We Make It Happen.”
Join us, stay connected, and help shape the next chapter of arts and health. Whether through membership, volunteering, or sharing your expertise, your involvement matters.

See you in 2026,

Claire Hooker

AHNNA President 2025

 

Images: AHNNA

Written by Dr Claire Hooker and posted by Elyssa Sykes-Smith

  • Dr Claire Hooker is Senior Lecturer, Health and Medical Humanities; Director, Bioethics program, Sydney Health Ethics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
  • Elyssa Sykes-Smith is a multidisciplinary artist, educator and climate psychology researcher, and Media Officer at AHNNA.