Contemporary art to brighten mental health wards 

Rose I, 2012, by Nick Knight
Rose I, 2012, by Nick Knight

Giles Deacon, Mark Wallinger, Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Mark Titchner are some of the 16 artists and designers who have been commissioned by the charity Hospital Rooms to create site-specific installations to brighten NHS spaces for patients with acute mental-health problems. The charity is also running a free digital art school – weekly workshops led by more than 30 internationally acclaimed artists – that they hope will provide a creative outlet both for patients in mental-health units and for the public. To support these projects, Hospital Rooms’ online shop is selling a new collection of limited-edition collectibles, clothes and prints by celebrated artists including Nick Knight and Sonia Boyce, available from February 25. hospital-rooms.com 

Bracelets to help children in need

Louis Vuitton organic-cotton Doudou Louis teddy bear, $955 (with $200 donated to Unicef)
Louis Vuitton organic-cotton Doudou Louis teddy bear, $955 (with $200 donated to Unicef)

Since 2016, Louis Vuitton has been partnering with Unicef to help support vulnerable children around the world through sales of its specially designed Silver Lockit. This year, to help the charity give children in need access to water, sanitation, nutrition and education, Louis Vuitton has added four bracelets made from recycled silver and organic cotton in pastel blue, pink, celadon green and black ($465, with $100 given to Unicef). It has also launched an organic cotton version of the Doudou Louis teddy bear ($955, with $200 donated to Unicef). louisvuitton.com and in selected Louis Vuitton stores worldwide

Save a museum from closing

Jeremy Deller has backed Art Fund’s Together For Museums crowdfunding campaign
Jeremy Deller has backed Art Fund’s Together For Museums crowdfunding campaign

In the midst of another UK lockdown, museums, galleries and historic houses across the country are fighting to survive. With some facing permanent closure – including the Florence Nightingale Museum in London, which has had to shut its doors for the foreseeable future – the UK charity Art Fund has launched an urgent appeal. The Together for Museums crowdfunding campaign rewards donations with one-of-a-kind artworks and matches them to double the impact. Cornelia Parker OBE and Turner prize-winner Jeremy Deller are the latest artists to back the campaign, joining the likes of Anish Kapoor, Michael Landy and David Shrigley, who have already contributed pieces. The charity hopes to raise at least £1million with just twelve days remaining. artfund.org/together

Clothing and accessories embroidered by refugee artisans 

SEP Jordan’s spring capsule collection is hand-embroidered in Jordan
SEP Jordan’s spring capsule collection is hand-embroidered in Jordan with patterns inspired by Islamic geometry

Ethical fashion brand SEP Jordan has launched a spring capsule collection of pretty linen wraps and shirts. Made in Italy, each piece is then hand-embroidered in Jordan by Jordanian and Syrian artisans in refugee camps, with patterns inspired by Islamic geometry and Palestinian heritage. Founded by Roberta Ventura in 2013, the brand is helping to change the lives of the 500 refugees it works with first by training them at SEP-Tamari Foundation Academy, and then by paying them weekly for each piece produced.  sepjordan.com

The epitome of British Cool supports Oxfam

Kate Moss She’s Light (Pure), 2014, by Chris Levine, on sale at Bonhams’ British. Cool. auction on 25 February
Kate Moss She’s Light (Pure), 2014, by Chris Levine, on sale at Bonhams’ British. Cool. auction on 25 February

A striking artwork of supermodel Kate Moss by the light artist Chris Levine is one of the stand-out lots in Bonhams’ inaugural “British. Cool.” auction this February. Estimated to fetch up to £30,000, the image was jointly donated by Levine and Moss to raise funds for Oxfam GB. Elsewhere as part of the sale, Bonhams has partnered with British-Nigerian multidisciplinary artist Yinka Ilori, who has curated a selection of his favourite works for the sale, and contributed three of his own pieces. The collection, described as “the very best of British” by Bonhams’ head of sale Janet Hardie, also includes Iain MacMillan and Banksy prints, Manolo Blahnik boots designed by Damien Hirst, and an Alexander McQueen Birds of Paradise gown. Bonhams’ British. Cool. sale will take place on 25 February in New Bond Street, London


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