Architecture

Kurt Forschen

AIDS Services of Austin (ASA) Moody Medical Clinic, Austin, Texas. Art consultancy Eaton Fine Art (Austin, Texas) curated an art program for ASA’s Moody Medical Clinic, which opened in September and provides care to residents of Central Texas affected by HIV. The program adds uplifting elements to the entrance, corridors, and exam rooms using a theme of bold and cool colors to deliver joy and calmness to patients and employees. The collection features the work of multiple Austin-based artists, with pieces inspired by music, abstract forms, and landscapes.

Kurt Forschen

AIDS Services of Austin (ASA) Moody Medical Clinic, Austin, Texas.

Jim Wilson

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, Plano, Texas. Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano added a new tower that includes 28 private outpatient beds, robotics surgery, a dedicated suite for medical research, education rooms, and a 200-seat auditorium. The 164,765-square-foot addition, designed by E4H (Dallas/Ft.Worth, Texas) had to support two audiences: the patients and family members who will receive care there and the doctors, researchers, and community leaders who will use the facility for conferences and continuing education. To do so, the design team wanted to achieve a high-end feel using natural elements in artwork (above, both views). Additionally, an abundance of natural light was brought into the first floor, with installations made of metal and glass reflecting that light throughout the facility. Pieces were selected by art consultant Healthcare Art Consulting (Dallas) via a call to artists.

Jim Wilson

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, Plano, Texas.

Jim Wilson

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano, Plano, Texas.

Photo courtesy of HDR © 2017 Corey Gaffer

Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, Neb. The cornerstone of the healing arts program at Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, opened June 2017, is the 3,667-square-foot Chihuly Sanctuary, home to more than 3,000 hand-blown glass elements by world-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. Chihuly Studio and HDR (Omaha, Neb.), the architect for the Buffett Cancer Center, collaborated on the two-story sanctuary (shown below), which is situated between the hospital and research tower. Ten installations are on view both inside and outside, including a series of “Sunrise Persian Columns” in spaces overlooking the healing garden. For the project, Chihuly also created a new series, “Ikebana Glass-on-Glass” paintings (above) that feature pictures of Japanese ikebana-style flower arrangements painted on three sheets of glass with enamel, a play on light and density to highlight deep saturated color and detail that’s illuminated by LEDs.

Photo courtesy of HDR © 2017 Corey Gaffer

Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, Neb.

Lakewood Patch

Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Family Health Center, Lakewood, Ohio. Cleveland area artists Liz Maugans and Dana Depew designed “Light-in-Sight Lakewood” (above and below) as a community-centric and participatory installation for Cleveland Clinic’s new health center in Lakewood, Ohio, that opened this year. The duo used the city’s Solstice Steps (cascading stone stairs that wrap a corner of nearby Lakewood Park, providing stunning views and access to Lake Erie) as inspiration. The piece features quirky “solstice steppers” made from local upcycled materials and seated against a bright yellow background (a reference to the sun) to elicit feelings of joy, warmth, and energy. The central component of the display incorporates the answers residents gave to the prompt “Lakewood is …” into an eclectic lit sign display, with messages rotated weekly.

Lakewood Patch

Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Family Health Center, Lakewood, Ohio.

Steve Travarca, Cleveland Clinic Center for Medical Art & Photography

Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland. The painted aluminum piece “Live Edge” by artist Eva Rothschild (above) was commissioned for the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center that opened in 2016. The 22-foot-tall sculpture is made up of seven triangles of decreasing size, which the artist describes as objects intersecting to create an open but self-supporting tangle that rises from the ground and draws the gaze up. The piece appears to defy gravity, as its construction relies on each element to hold the other, creating a complex support system that parallels the patient experience.

Steve Travarca, Cleveland Clinic Center for Medical Art & Photography

Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland.

Halkin Mason Photography

University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Stead Family Children’s Hospital opened in February 2017, with interior design services provided by ZGF in association with Heery Design. The team collaborated with artist Larry Kirkland to design four types of artwork that invite discovery and provide positive distraction for the main lobby. These include the Blooming Wall displayed on the curved walls in the lobby, with some parts extending two stories high. Triangular-shaped panels are varying shades of blue, green, and purple, gradually increasing in intensity, or “bloom,” before fading to white. Four different areas in the lobby’s terrazzo floor offer an “I spy” experience for kids and adults, with outlines of objects—such as animals, a football, and household tools—embedded. Additionally, six towering sculptures, known as wind vanes, look like large stacks of alphabet blocks. Each of the pieces represents two Iowa communities, and colorful graphics reflect aspects of each place such as an event, industry, or natural area located there. Finally, playful artwork inside six glass-covered window displays showcase a different theme via alphabet blocks, toys, and small figurines.

Halkin Mason

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Bergen, Montvale, N.J. Completed this year, the art program for Memorial Sloan Kettering’s new outpatient facilities (at left, top and bottom) showcases work from local and regional artists, creating ties to the communities that the provider is now serving. A curated collection of landscapes, abstracts, works on paper, paintings, and photography aims to uplift, calm, distract, and draw in visitors.

Halkin Mason

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Bergen, Montvale, N.J.

Halkin Mason

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Bergen, Montvale, N.J.

Kevin Chu (KCJP)

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Hospital, New York. Memorial Sloan Kettering’s new bone marrow transplant floor at Memorial Hospital (above, top and bottom) supports patients who typically stay in the unit for a month, frequently walking the corridors to rebuild their strength. The goal for the art program at the cancer center, which opened this year, was to be engaging and dynamic while also varied in style and media. The installations also support the wayfinding program and help mark the entry into patient rooms.

Kevin Chu (KCJP)

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Hospital, New York.

Paúl Rivera

Orange Regional Medical Center, Middletown, N.Y. The healing arts program at Orange Regional Medical Center, opened in October 2016, is designed to support an environment of care for patients, families, staff, and the community. BatesForum (Chicago) provided architecture and interior design services for the project that features artwork integrated throughout all spaces, from public hallways to common areas (above) to patient rooms. The program creates a sense of well-being and renewal for the body, mind, and spirit and includes pieces by local artists to strengthen community ties and highlight the creative talent of the region. The collection captures the beauty of the surrounding Hudson Valley and includes a variety of art mediums such as drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, textiles, and quilts.

John Edward Linden Photography

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, Calif. With a long history of using art as occupational therapy, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center features art prominently throughout its new and renovated facilities, opened in September 2018 (designed by the integrated team of McCarthy Building, Taylor Design, and SmithGroup). Original works for the plaza and the building interiors were commissioned by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. Among those works is “Vigor Vortex,” by the de la Torre Brothers, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, which is themed after the tree of life, a universal symbol of growth, shelter, and complex systems, and meant to reflect the work done at Rancho. The 10-foot, ocular-shaped mandala (shown below) is located in the Don Knabe Wellness Center on campus. It adapts imagery obtained from the Rancho imaging departments, such as brain scans, with flora and fauna imagery, reflecting the strength and resilience of the natural world. Using lenticular printing to create an aquarium-like effect, the imagery is placed in radial patterns that invite the viewer for closer inspection of its intricacies.

John Edward Linden Photography

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, Calif.

© Dan Schwalm

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago. The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is a translational research facility that provides complex rehabilitation care to patients with conditions resulting from traumatic brain injury, stroke, amputation, and cancer. Designed by HDR/Gensler, in association with Clive Wilkinson Architects and EGG Office, the project infuses bold color and graphics to instill energy throughout the space. Welcoming patients in the lobby is the commissioned installation “Mistral,” by artist Pae White (left), which symbolically reinforces movement, transformation, possibility, and the power of hope. (© Pae White, 2017. Material: Polished stainless steel, coated cable, and ink. Courtesy greengrassi, London).

Bill Timmerman

Health Education Building, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan. University of Kansas Medical Center’s 171,744-square-foot Health Education Building, opened in August 2017, was designed by CO Architects (Los Angeles) in collaboration with Helix Architecture + Design (Kansas City, Mo.) and includes commissioned artworks inspired by artifacts housed in the Clendening History of Medicine Library on campus. One notable piece is a mural by Miki Baird, “for FN … words without fear, 2017,” that’s assembled from hundreds of reproduced letters written by Florence Nightingale and hangs in the building’s fifth-floor lobby (above). The architects worked closely with the artist to customize the interior design to accentuate the artwork, which rests in a recessed alcove built specifically to protect the delicate tapestry. The white paint was closely reviewed in context to the tonality of the piece, while the lighting design was updated to effectively illuminate the work.