The art of healing: noting the ongoing positive impact of arts in the clinical setting, hospital administrators, artists, consultants, architects, designers, physicians and patients work together to ensure a healthful, uplifting environment

Art Business News, Sept, 2003 by Julie Keith

The hallway walls at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center used to be blank caverns where people would loiter. But as part of the center's 10-year-old Arts and Humanities Programs, Director Nancy Morgan has been able to fill some of them with series of art exhibits.

"They just transformed the staff," said Morgan, who attests to a growing interest in the arts within the healthcare community. With the changes, the cancer center's space is now a focal point for conversation, reflection and enjoyment. "Everyone benefits from the art, no question," she said.

The arts heal. It's that simple. And that's borne out by several clinical studies, scores of anecdotal evidence and most recently supported by a concept paper presented at a recent symposium hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Society for the Arts in Healthcare.

Research presented at the symposium points out that art affects the perception patients have of the quality of their medical care. When art is present in the clinical setting, it brings more warmth, stimulation and comfort to the healthcare facility. And not surprisingly, art can have a positive impact on the mood of patients, their families and the healthcare professionals who care for them.

"The arts have an extraordinary ability to enhance our lives, to help us heal and to bring us comfort in times of great stress," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "We must reconnect the arts with the actual human existence that Americans lead, the journeys we take in life, which lead us through hospitals, to hospices, to the end of life."

Monica Hork, an arts and healthcare consultant who represents Billy Hork Galleries in Chicago, concurred. "By establishing a careful criteria for the kind of artwork to be used in the healthcare setting, hospitals can select pieces that not only enhance the environment, but also support healing."

Prescription for Health

Along with the recognition that the presence of art in a clinical setting can promote healing and comfort, there comes a wide range of artwork that is healthcare environments. From handmade quilts to landscapes, from water walls to large sculptures, hospital administrators have a lot to choose from. But how do they decide?

Hork explained that the process of selecting art for the clinical setting is really a back-and-forth discussion among several groups. "We're usually approached by a design firm, an architect or the institution, and we begin a dialog on why art is important. We talk about how art is not just decorative or an add-on. As a consultant, I try to understand the culture of the institution and then give them a multitude of artwork to choose from."

Hork explained that lots of things can influence the choice of artwork, from the size of the space to the philosophy of the hospital itself. New wings or atrium entrances can house large sculptural pieces; hospitals looking to involve their patients often poll them for ideas on what they'd like to see in hallways or rooms.

Nancy Morgan's criteria for successful healthcare installations is finding artwork that is "high-quality, nothing disturbing, nothing that adds to people's troubles, and beyond that it's pretty much open," she said. "Art that inspires or calms, or takes someone to a different place--a brief respite; is what the Lombardi Cancer Center looks for. "It can be simply soothing, but it also can be a lightning rod for emotions of unexpected intensity. I welcome stronger responses like that, because I think they are cathartic."

For Morgan, patient feedback is important to understanding how the art is functioning in the clinical setting. "Patients express their thanks for the artwork itself," Morgan said, "but also for the fact that it changes. It gives them something new to look at, as they may have to return to the cancer center for many months repeatedly. People need that kind of stimulation."

"I love to get feedback from the patients on the art that I've installed," Hork added. "And it's rewarding, because it's pretty consistently positive."

The Right Medicine

By getting feedback from patients and their families, many artists and consultants have discovered that art that represents the natural world is best received. Painter Laurel Hecht from Cleveland has recently shown 19 of her works in an exhibit entitled "Open Your Majesty" at the Humphrey Atrium gallery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. She said nature is the ideal Subject for art in the healthcare setting.

"The elements of a painting--paint, paper, canvas and wood--come from the earth. Minerals that make up our bodies and guide our thought processes come from the earth," said Hecht. "All that we can ever hope to be is inextricably connected to nature."

Elements in her work celebrate our connection to the earth. Eggs represent birth and new beginnings. Butterflies symbolize transformation.

"I've chosen works that I believe fit the audience at University Hospitals," Hecht explained. "Patients, their families and the staff all need something to comfort and refresh them. I'm very interested in how art can change people's moods."