There was a great article in the WSJ on August 18, 2014 (https://online.wsj.com/articles/more-hospitals-use-the-healing-powers-of-public-art-1408404629?KEYWORDS=art+and+healthcare+facilities) touting the benefits of the healing powers of art in healthcare facilities. For years the thinking was that art work in a healthcare facility should just be soothing, nature based, and possibly loosely figurative. Today the trend is moving towards more contemporary and diverse works of art. This article sites studies that show the aim “is to take your mind away from the disease and replace the time you are losing inside hospital with some beauty”.
This last fall we had the opportunity to install a 12 foot stainless steel contemporary sculpture in the center courtyard of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. The patients and visitors can view it from walking around it in the courtyard or from their rooms looking down upon it. It is our hope that, if only for a moment, this sculpture takes their minds off the horrors of cancer.
