It's one of the largest public art collections in the country, and
it's not where you might expect to see it. Artwork in New York hospitals
aims to heal patients and healers Jeffrey Brown continues as occasional
look at the intersection of art and health for our ongoing arts and
culture series canvas.
Playful, vibrant mural painted in 1986 by Keith Herring themed artist
of the 19 eighties pop in graffiti seen his work is typically found
in museums, galleries and at auction valued into the millions.
But there it is busy lobby of Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn, New
York.
On a wall outside in this loud, crowded bed Stuy neighborhood. A
new mural for Pandemic Times called through Healing we unite is for
health workers, but also it's about bridging the gap between health
workers and the community at large. It was designed by contemporary
artists Imani Shanklin Roberts, working with hospital staff and patients
for ideas, even the painting public art
Is about civic engagement.
It exists, You know, in a very busy avenue
and people are walking back and forth passively or actively engaging
with the work, so it becomes larger than me becomes larger than the
hospital. It really is about bridging people together. Roberts mural
is now part of one of the more extraordinary and unexpected.
Art collections in the country, the more than 3000 works, owned and
curated by New York City's health and hospitals, the nation's largest
municipal public hospital system works obtained through donations
by philanthropists, foundations and the artists themselves, plus
a New York City tax incentive program to fund public art.
In fact, there is now a renaissance of mural, making some 26 new
works and hospitals throughout the city with more coming.
It's the largest such projects since the 19 thirties, continuing
a rich history that can still be seen at places like Harlem Hospital,
where murals from the Federal Art Project, part of Franklin Roosevelt
program have been restored and displayed in a museum like Mural Pavilion,
Part historian and Whitney Museum curator Barbara Haskell.
One purpose was to put people to work very simple, very simple. As
one of his administrator said. Artists have to eat like everyone
else. But there was another message. Another idea that art could
be part of everyday life and that through art could shore up the
self resolve of America. And you could translate that idea into a
hospital content. The idea that modern medicine was something that
would prevent and help your diseases in that era High school, says
many people
Patients and staff even lived in the hospitals for long periods of
time in the murals were often immersive, taking up whole walls and
spaces, especially to cheer up Children in long term care.
The murals at Harlem Hospital are also important in another way for
capturing black life by black artists. A cycle of works by Vergis
Hayes.
Others by Charles Alston.
Some of the early sketches for these murals were rejected by the
hospital administration at the time for focusing too much on so called
Negro subject matter. But after protests the artists like George,
Etc. Brooke largely prevailed. This was in a nurse's recreation room.
And it gave a sense that life was happening. 1937 painting is titled
Recreation in Harlem Black Woman Artists at this time living in Harlem
would have not had many opportunities. That's right, and the WP itself
didn't hire many black artists. So the Harlem hospital was really
a launch for a lot of these artists.
So this is our storage unit for some of our most significant pieces
in the collection, nondescript space in a downtown office building.
Larisa Trend ER, who heads the arts in medicine program for the hospital
system showed us more works, many by leading artists such as Andy
Warhol, Lee Krasner and Sam Gilliam waiting to be placed on hospital
walls.
So these are from the 19 thirties, even still under wraps restored
paintings from a series on Alice in Wonderland in New York that once
adorned a Children's Ward fell into disrepair and will soon be publicly
shown again after some 40 years. A lot of our pieces are not framed
there waiting to be framed and placed into our facilities. We store
them in these spins here.
So, for example.
Um, well, there's a famous name famous name Alexander Calder
important focus now, especially in the pandemic, using art to help
caregivers not only to beautify their surroundings but in sessions
to help heal the healers themselves. A raise image that is projected
by David Hammond's, for example, is used in a program called Heart
of Medicine, Artist Therapy.
In which teams of health workers first talk about the painting as
a way into their own deeper feelings, fears and frustrations on the
job. What would happen is you would sit there and say, What do you
see when you see this
man and a woman in a loving embrace, But other people would say,
Oh, my gosh, I see you know he's angry or she's this and people were
bringing their own kinds of emotion and backgrounds into this piece.
It's always been Judith Cochin, head nurse of ambulatory care it.
Woodhull Hospital takes pride in working at a public facility, giving
top care to all in need, regardless of their ability to pay.
But the last few years have been traumatic, great deal of staff.
We lost a great deal about beloved patients, and it's you know, it's
life changing art in and on the building, she says, has helped. And
when artists Imani Shanklin Robert sought ideas from the staff of
her mural project, Cochin was eager to join in
not to beautify the building.
It is to engage our patients engaged House staff, the families the
community in this project that mural. It means a lot. It really means
a lot to me.
Because it just signifies what we do here.
Whole we have in this building.
And why me? Here? Were you involved in actually painting campaign
campaign, But I love art. We were able to say Okay, so let's say
we
Going to paint that orange. You know, we don't want that orange and
we come to a consensus. Let's make it yellow. Yeah, Yeah, Let's put
the patient on this side. Okay, so I felt like I feel like the artists
awestruck.
By the beauty of these murals. This is exactly what Dr Eric Way hopes
for way as a top administrator for New York City health and hospitals
but also continues to work as an emergency medical physician on the
front lines. What is it that you and other health care workers need
Most?
That the art might provide.
The figuratively having a full tank and that full tank of empathy
that full tank of having a clear mind not being distracted. Not being
stressed not being burnt out. And so we need to leverage everything
that we have in our is so powerful. We need to use this powerful
tool to hear your healers.