Trust pharmacist and artist creates mural to inspire innovation and creativity

Staff visiting Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust’s Innovation Space are enjoying a colourful and inspiring new addition, thanks to a mural created by one of their colleagues.

Saba Rifat, a specialist clinical pharmacist who is also an accomplished artist, was approached to create the mural by the Trust’s innovation manager Sarah Hall.

Saba, who works at Pinderfields Hospital, said: “My brief was to create an artwork which celebrates innovation and inspires people who come in to use the space.

With any commission, it’s really important to fully explore the requirements, so I met with the team to discuss their thoughts and ideas. They wanted it to be colourful and to represent creativity and curiosity, while also maintaining a sense of fun.

“Sustainability was also a key consideration, so I sourced vegan, low odour paints from a local company for the project.”

Saba, who specialises in creating work featuring geometric shapes, isn’t new to having her work featured in public spaces, having previously created a huge 3,000 tile design for the Rishworth Road underpass in Dewsbury.

She added: “It took longer than expected to complete the mural. Just masking off the shapes took around two days, with the whole piece taking around 12 days to complete from start to finish. But I’m delighted with the final result.

MY Innovation Space, which launched in October, provides a creative environment for innovation and research, bringing together local businesses and entrepreneurs with clinical teams to cross fertilise ideas and improve business potential, in collaboration with the University of Huddersfield.

Sarah said: “Saba has been great to work with and the finished piece has surpassed all our expectations. The room before was lovely but quite plain, and this mural really adds a wow factor – it just makes you feel happy and inspired when you look at it.

“Because of the shapes and the colours, you find that you notice something different each time you look at it, which is great.

“Everyone who has seen it so far has loved it. And its so special to have a piece of art created by a staff member for other staff to enjoy. It starts conversations between staff and creates a welcoming and energising environment.”