Art’s healing touch on display at West Park

By Ashima Sehajpal

For Karen Mackay, art is many things.

It’s a medium to time travel; therapy to calm the mind; comfort for aches and pains.

“Art magically takes my mind off the sickness,” says Karen, 42, who has been an inpatient at UHN’s West Park Healthcare Centre since 2016 when a car accident left her partially quadriplegic.

Over the past eight years at West Park, Karen’s interaction with art has been multi-faceted and deeply gratifying. In addition to being an appreciative audience for the works on display throughout the site, she discovered her passion for creating art with watercolours and acrylic paint through the Recreation Therapy Department’s drop-in classes, and also serves on the West Park Art Council.

Experiences such as Karen’s validate the presence of the arts in a health care setting and were a key driver in the launching of an art strategy for West Park’s new hospital site, which opened in the spring. It’s supported by extensive research demonstrating the ability of the arts to alleviate stress, depression and anxiety, helping patients focus on something beyond their illness.

“It is important to recognize the therapeutic powers of art in a health care setting where its purpose goes beyond aesthetics and décor,” says Susan MacDonald, Art Strategy Lead and Partner, Operational Readiness at West Park, adding that a key was incorporating art in building plans from the outset.

“Early planning enabled us to animate new spaces for patients to enjoy, on day one of occupancy,” says Susan.

Prior to moving into the new site, an inventory was taken of the pieces of art within the existing building. There was also an exploration of partnerships with community arts organizations, artists, galleries and art-sharing programs to see what other works might be obtained.

Collaboration with patients through the Recreation Therapy Department and creative West Park staff members who were willing to display their works, increased the amount of art for installation.

The West Park Art Council provided stewardship for the art strategy, establishing principles for donations and guiding the development and implementation of art selections to ensure they offer motivating, meaningful and regenerative experiences for patients and families, staff and members of the community.

“Our strategy rests on two key principles: first, repurposing art to suit the patient experience; and second, being creative in obtaining art in non-traditional ways, sparing the use of resources,” says Susan.

The new West Park hospital was designed to accommodate 300 pieces of art on the walls, which allowed for the installation of the works once the building was occupied. The result is that within weeks, a fascinating assortment of abstract and figurative artwork and photographs, ranging from as small as three inches by two inches to as large as three-and-a-half feet by 12 feet, were hung throughout the six levels of the new hospital, a testament to the success of the new art strategy.

Generous art contributions have also come from West Park staff members.

Dr Chris Boulias, a physiatrist and clinical researcher, donated many artworks to reflect particular programs at West Park, including the new Lung Institute and the new Limb Preservation initiative. And Bill Burke, who retired after 40 years of service to the hospital in Environmental Services, contributed more than 25 pieces that humorously capture stories of the hospital and its departments.

An integral part of the art strategy is contributions from patient artists, whose work is proudly displayed in the Patient Art Exhibition Wall on Level One. A rotating display, the wall’s central location subtly underscores how each detail of the new hospital has been designed with the patient in mind.

“Some of the art works up on the wall are fantastic,” says Karen. “And, I am always looking forward to what’s coming up next.”

Coming this fall to West Park:

• Taiwanese-Canadian artist Dennis Lin will suspend a two-storey mobile in the main entrance area, incorporating natural materials and parts of a prosthetic limb, to represent the phenomenal work that West Park does to help people get their lives back.
• Rx Art, a non-profit organization focused on people heal through visual art, will install a 100-foot wall mural by Canadian contemporary artist Elizabeth McIntosh. To be located next to the south entrance, it will greet patients as they arrive at West Park and also serve as wayfinding to guide patient transportation and help staff and visitors navigate to the outdoors.

Karen’s favorite work of art at West Park is an oil-on-canvas painting of sunflowers, donated by her friend. Located in the corridor outside her inpatient unit on Level Six, she often immerses herself in it.

“The artwork stands out to me for its choice of colours,” says Karen. “In the absence of the sun, sunflowers turn to each other to share nutrients.

“The bright, yellow flowers pop out from the darker backdrop. For me, they symbolize hope.”