Vol. 4, No. 10, October 2007
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Healing Art
Local artists help to give AtlantiCare’s new facility an inviting—and healing—atmosphere
A giant, ocean-inspired mosaic, created by Millville artists Liz Nicklus (r.) and Jacqui Hair (l.), leads to an entrance, and inside that entrance is a three-story water feature, simulating a waterfall. Beautiful works of art—paintings, sculptures—adorn rooms and public spaces throughout the building.
Wait. This is a hospital, right?
It is AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s newly expanded and renovated Atlantic City campus, and its use of what ARMC calls the “Healing Arts Program,” begun in its Center for Childbirth and continued with the city campus expansion. The program has a unique mission: to commission works from local artists which tap into the healing power of art.
“Research has shown that visual arts and music can speed healing and calm tension,” says Margaret Belfield, vice president and administrator of ARMC’s city campus. “AtlantiCare has made a commitment to dedicate 1 percent of all new building costs to the healing arts.”
For ARMC’s new emergency room and seven-story George F. Lynn Harmony Pavilion, that means more than 500 pieces so far of artwork in all mediums, which are being incorporated throughout the new patient tower to foster that healing environment. Requests for proposals have gone out across the state, and more than 80 artists have already been selected. Nintey percent of them are New Jersey residents. The goal is to have a total of more than 700 pieces of art by the time the facility is complete in the spring.
Belfield says ARMC formed a committee of volunteers from the local art community to advise the hospital staff and to help select works. “I have a wonderful community advisory group we put together around the healing arts,” she says. “We have community leaders who are artists, people who run the local art museums or have connections to artists, and just people connected to AtlantiCare who love art.”
Their task is to select art that promotes healing, and “harmony.” That means being culturally sensitive and all-inclusive, says Belfield. “We’re trying to be very careful to select art that appeals to all of our guests,” she says. “We have a very diverse population that we serve, so our art needs to reflect that—we all view harmony differently.”
Belfield says she has learned a lot from being on what she calls “the most fun committee I, as a hospital administrator, have ever gotten go be on.” For instance, cultural adjustments were made to some works that were already in progress after advice from the panel. The giant mosaic is already different from Nicklus’ original design, which included blackbirds. They were removed from the mosaic plan when the panel advised the birds represent death in some cultures.
“I’ve learned a lot about art, and I’ve appreciated working with such a talented group of people who have devoted their time to the project.”
When it’s done, ARMC’s Atlantic City Campus will be a model of healing art. In fact, the organization even plans to give tours of the artworks to local schoolchildren.
Yes, it’s a hospital. But it’s also a mini-museum.
