Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT) was launched in 1985 as The Aberdeen Hospitals Art Project by a team of local clinicians and artists and led by Mr. Norman Mathieson, an eminent surgeon at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The Aberdeen Hospitals Art Project officially became a Trust on the 7th of February 1991 and was renamed as Grampian Hospitals Art Trust.
The first exhibition, in1985, of 100 paintings, prints and photographs, all donated by local artists from Aberdeen Artists Society and Peacock Printmakers were displayed in the Lower Ground Floor of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary which then became a permanent space providing an excellent area for patients, visitors & staff to meet and for quiet reflection. This space is now known as The Small Gallery.
The donation of these works formed the beginnings of what is now the GHAT collection comprising of more than 4,500 artworks, enhancing healthcare spaces throughout all NHS Grampian facilities which cover Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray (an area of 2,500 sq mls), and encompasses 115 healthcare facilities, servicing in excess of 500,000 people half of whom are located in the Aberdeen City area. It is the largest arts collection of it’s kind in Scotland – possibly the UK.
For nearly 30 years GHAT has improved the buildings and spaces of NHS Grampian by the installation of a wide range of artwork and more recently, a number of exciting environmental design projects involving applied vinyl, glass and other new media.