This exhibition explores how patients, staff and the local landscape are shaping an artwork for the forthcoming Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.
17 Jun - October 2026
The Addenbrooke's Gallery
Working with clay gathered from across East Anglia, artist Ivan Morison, together with a team of artists, has invited people with lived experience of cancer care to take part in a shared process of making, testing and exploring.
Since February 2026, a series of workshops called Conversations with Clay has brought participants together to experiment with clay. This creative process is shaping how the new artwork will look and what it will represent - bringing people together through making and shared experiences, and supporting connection within the hospital environment.
The artwork, The Welcome by Ivan Morison, will be a large sculptural installation in the entrance atrium of the new hospital. Made from locally sourced clay and natural glazes, it will be rooted in the geology and histories of the East of England, and shaped by the contributions from the hospital community.
This exhibition presents the early stages of that process: collecting materials, testing their qualities, and exploring how they might come together to form the final artwork.
I like the idea of using ’the clay beneath our feet’... This project has provided the perfect opportunity to see what effects it might produce.
Participant
Over the last decade, Dance for Health has become a part of our care at CUH. It is embedded into ward culture and integrated into hospital life. The space it occupies in the day-to-day life of a busy teaching hospital has solidified its position as a leader in the field of hospital-based participatory dance, and it has become one of the longest running hospital dance programmes in the country.
CUH Arts would like to thank all the supporters of Dance for Health across the years, with special thanks to all the ward staff for their ongoing collaborative approach and, of course, to Filipa Pereira-Stubbs who makes this incredible work possible.
CUH Arts would like to thank all of the participants who have engaged with and supported the creative engagement process, with special thanks to our partner venues Kettle’s Yard and Wysing Arts Centre.
We additionally thank the ceramic technicians at Wysing Arts Centre and Studio Do, Norwich, for firing works on display.
And a special thanks to all ward staff for their ongoing enthusiasm, collaboration and support for the importance and role creativity can play in patient experience.
This work feels like a conversation with the land and the deep geology around us, the gift of these landscapes we live with and what they can do for us.
Particiapant
Ivan Morison
Ivan Morison works across art, architecture and social practice, and is one half of Studio Morison, alongside Heather Peak. Their work is centred on shared spaces and the communities who spend time in them, with a focus on creating places that bring meaning, beauty and a sense of purpose to everyday experiences. Central to their practice is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach, bringing together artists, architects, designers, engineers and local partners to realise ambitious, site‑responsive projects in public and civic settings.
Ivan is the artist developing and creating The Welcome for The Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, shaped through collaboration with patients, staff and the local landscape.
Lucy Wheeler
Lucy is Creative Producer, Ceramicist and Educator, living and working in Norfolk. She has over 15 years’ experience working in arts participation in galleries, museums, hospitals, schools and with local authorities. Lucy has taught ceramics in galleries, pottery membership spaces, and as a tutor and technician for porcelain specialist Jo Davies.
Lucy has led workshops in the hospital and at public events, supporting participants to create with clay.
Matthew Blakely
Matthew Blakely is a ceramicist based in Cambridgeshire. His work explores the relationship between ceramics, geology and place, using materials gathered directly from the landscape.
Matthew has led the development of the project’s material research, working with participants and Ivan to test wild clays and natural glazes.
Kaitlin Ferguson
Kaitlin Ferguson is an environmental artist who explores our relationship with nature, based in Sheffield. She aims to reconnect people with the environment, to offer new ways of understanding the history, and future, of our planet.
Kaitlin has led public workshops, helping to connect wider audiences with the ideas and materials behind The Welcome.
View Kaitlin's website here (opens in a new tab)View Kaitlin's website here (opens in a new tab)
Hannah Jane Walker
Hannah Jane Walker is a writer and artist based in Essex whose work explores people’s experiences through conversation and collaborative practice.
Hannah led workshops for people with lived experience of cancer care, gathering insights into what people need from arts and culture in oncology environments.
