“When I see art”, he said, ….
Iris Kiewiet, 2013. Underwater Poppies. Two excerpts from one original, acrylic on canvas. 150x155cm
Why do we need better art in hospitals?
I can only look at the faded picture on the wall: a pastel garden,
Maybe here, maybe Arizona, maybe France. It’s hard to tell.
There are pale pink gardenias and an empty gray chair with slats on its back.
This picture fails to take me beyond this room.
From “Road to Damascus” by Diana Davidson, published in Revealed: The hospital experience from all sides, edited by Shirley Serviss: Artist on the Wards
It all begins with an idea. YESSS…
We want people living in care homes,
and all who support them, to have
beautiful places to go and bathe in beauty,
places that open their imagination and
build conversation and community.
Bunch Grass, ShapeVision
Hidden Shapes of Nature by ShapeVision, at the Saint Vincent Hospital Elevator Galleries
curated by research Maren Kathleen Elliott
September 2022-January 2023
With the goal of making the art on display as accessible as possible this exhibition was curated online participation options, the first, a slideshow presentation and the second, a 3D gallery of the collection created with a program called Kunstamatrix. Assistive technology, including joysticks and eye-tracking systems, will be used by patients with physical impairments to visit this realistic virtual gallery! "
Hidden Shapes of Nature" explores the beauty of the natural world in the form of large-scale, complex images that are formed using a new digital imaging software called ShapeVision. ShapeVision uses advanced mathematics to create highly scalable vector graphics that, when printed at a large scale, depict an initial image and then, when examined more closely, hold a fascinating semblance to jigsaw puzzles or detailed maps. In this body of work, human creative decisions combine with this digital tool to create complex, colourful nature-driven imagery.
Shapevision is driven by a creative partnership between software artist Martin Brooks and art coach John Spence, with much of the source imagery by Ross Photography.
Public Space for citizens in healthcare
Hospitals and other care settings have their own kind of public space; vital open areas for gathering, and leaving one’s room; to sit among a like community, or to move around slowly and safely; often with assistive devices, in a calm and familiar environment; all important to well-being, independence and agency.
Oscar Parra
People Who Love People
An innovative opportunity for an artist to explore care during the pandemic.
Oscar Parra, a Colombian photographer and an Arts Network Ottawa Mentee, worked with the 2020-21 AiR & Bruyère employees to create 12 portraits with text. Also funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation
This installation is up at St. Vincent Hospital, Elizabeth Bruyère, Hospital and Residence St. Louis. Photo installations have info panels, in 3 languages (read below).
Watch Oscar Parra’s Artist Talk
Image Right: Wondewossom
Mariama
Left: Lann, Right: Brenda
Local Worlds: Site, Space, Society, Science.
The inaugural exhibition at St.-Vincent Hospital’s brand new Screening Gallery
Optimally located in the key entrance, on the way to the screening desks; a perfect situation for lines of socially spaced site-users to appreciate the art.
1,700 people pass through that building on a given day. A hospital is like a small village with its own “public spaces”.
Local Worlds was unveiled as one of four AiR presentations, during 2020 Ontario Culture Days; winning the festival’s Spotlight Recognition Award for Accessibility.
This exhibition celebrates the creative eye of four photographers from Bruyère’s vast community; a patient, a security guard, and members of the Patient and Family Advisory Council, and the Communications team.
Eight photographs express deeply connected themes of place, care, and wonder. Demonstrating a breadth of interests and styles, they reveal each artist’s ability to observe and present moments of critical depth.
Establishing an art gallery within the hospital was one of many projects organized through Bruyère’s new Artist in Residence program. This is one part of a key goal to break down silos between ages, abilities, cultures and institutions.
Are You Interesting in Exhibiting?
An exhibit on one floor, at any residence, can “tour” to another floor, or local galleries, or other residences.
If people in care can not get to public cultural spaces, can the cultural experiences come to them?
Healthcare hallways are full of potential. Signage can be moved to open up valuable wall space for art.
McMullen Gallery,
University of Alberta Hospital, in Edmonton
Staff Artist on the Wards Bev Ross, leads a Harp Relaxation for Patients, Family & Hospital Staff, during Under the Surface, November 2018
Dawn Dale 2000_Annaluna series_13" x 42"