Art at The Children's Hospital at Westmead

‘I don't look at them, I am just glad they are there’. This was one of most rewarding remarks about the art collection at The Children's Hospital at Westmead made by the father of a patient. It was in response to my query as to which pieces he particularly liked after he told me how pleased he was to see the art every time he came to the hospital. This reflected the approach I applied when I started to create an art collection for the new hospital's opening in 1995, at the request of the then Chief Executive Officer, John Yu. The request was to put together an art collection that would create a caring ambience for everyone in the hospital: patients, parents and staff. A collection where the art is not necessarily to be looked at, although it is certainly there for anyone who wants to do that, but to soften the edges of time spent in hospital for children and parents. A collection to help alleviate the stress of parents and create a pleasant, friendly environment for the children, their families and staff, and to help reduce a feeling of separation from the outside world. The short time between John Yu asking me to become involved and the opening left no time to study any theories behind other hospitals' collections or to talk to any hospital art curators. Anyway, at the time there were few paediatric hospitals that saw art as playing a role in patient care or indeed as an aid to lessening parents' anxiety and creating a more pleasing atmosphere for the children, parents and staff. I agreed with John Yu that art could play such a role and create a positive environment. I also felt that the art to be hung on the walls must reflect the superlative medical care given to the patients and made the decision to fill the hospital with the best works of art I could find. I also decided not to choose works that are generally regarded as ‘children's’ art – fluffy bunnies and the like – because in the work I had done in introducing children to art, I had learnt that children are frequently more receptive to mature paintings and sculpture than adults. While adults are apt to include their own preconceived prejudices, children look at art works in a much more direct way. Nonetheless, there had to be criteria in choosing the works. Nothing that could frighten or alarm a child, nothing that could be perceived as violent, nothing that could cause offence to the sensibilities of the multicultural audience who come to the hospital could be considered and no nudity. Colours such as strong reds, yellows and blacks can create negative responses and care had to be taken in placing art works in which any of those colours dominated. It was also important to remember that sometimes the subject of a work can be interpreted differently to that which the artist intended, particularly when they are encountered in an environment where artworks are generally not expected to be seen. While people are accepting of a variety of art when they visit an Art Museum, they do not come to a hospital expecting to see art on the walls, so can be less accepting of what they find there. For instance, an abstract painting of the red centre of Australia with a rabbit-proof fence running across it had to be moved from outside the oncology unit to a less sensitive area in a corridor, because it caused adults to think of needles and blood, although children immediately understood what it represented. So what art is there in The Children's Hospital at Westmead, where is it displayed and how have the works been acquired? Over the past 18 years, the collection has grown to close to 2000 works of art consisting of works on canvas, works on paper, sculpture, photographs and murals and it continues to grow. Apart from some areas where it is not possible to hang works, they are displayed in all areas of the hospital, generally at child-eye height. The majority are from established Australian artists, although there are also a number of works by emerging artists, staff (see Fig. 1) and a percentage are by children. These come from the Operation Art programme, a project run by The Children's Hospital at Westmead and The Art Unit of the Department of Education and Communities. Each year, every school in New South Wales (NSW) is asked if they will submit four works by their students from Kindergarten to year 10 (5–15 year olds) for children in hospital. The response to this request has continued to grow from 50 works when it began 16 years ago to 800 last year. All the works are displayed at an annual Operation Art exhibition, which in 2011 drew over 4000 very excited children and proud families to its opening. Each year, 50 works are chosen for the hospital; these tour for a year to regional NSW art galleries. While the exhibitions are being shown, workshops for students and teachers are conducted at the venue. Some works are donated to Bear Cottage, the children's hospice at Manly, NSW, others to children's wards in regional hospitals, while works have also been donated to children's hospitals in the USA, Canada, UK, Cambodia and Japan. Alice Endover by Catherine Parer (former nurse at The Children's Hospital at Westmead). Murals had not originally been considered for the art project. However, this was changed by a request, just before the hospital opened, from the neonatal intensive care unit for something to enhance their walls, where dust-gathering paintings could not be hung. This was the beginning of a co-operation with the Design School of the West of Sydney University. The first murals were painted by the professors and students. When the murals proved to be successful, nurse unit managers (NUMs) in other units wanted murals on their walls, which led to the Design School introducing Brushed with Care as part of their second year students' course work. The students worked with the NUMs and unit staff, under the supervision of their professors and designed murals around the Australian animal symbols that are used to identify individual units. There were further requests for murals in areas where paintings could not be sited, such as special treatment rooms including the MRI suite in medical imaging, by nature often windowless places, and in the photographic department. The staff in these areas wanted murals to alter the atmosphere in the rooms from one of apprehension to one where children have something to look at and to talk about and to create stories around to help them to relax. The photographer wanted a mural in that department because children often have to be photographed without clothes, which can be confronting. He uses the murals to engage the children in a story that makes them feel less inhibited and become more settled. There are also other art programmes at the hospital. The Adolescent Unit has a part-time artist who works with the adolescents in a very creative arts programme, some of the works they produce are displayed for set periods in a dedicated space outside the unit. The photography department runs an annual photographic prize for staff and the Research Institute has a photographic prize for its staff. The winners of the prizes are displayed for a period in the hospital alongside the permanent collection. The hospital has been very fortunate in that around 96% of its permanent collection have been donated. Because of the quality of the works, the hospital was awarded tax-deductible status for its artworks under the Federal Government's Cultural Gifts Programme. This has helped the collection grow. Gifts do sometimes present a problem, however, and it can be hard to find the tactful words needed to refuse an unsuitable gift without giving offence. One such proffered gift, in response to a request I had made to an artist to donate a work to the hospital, was a three-metre-long painting of dancing skeletons. While I was sure the children would have enjoyed it, I knew it would definitely not pass adult scrutiny. I found the right words to turn it down so I could return to the artist with another request. When I did so, a few years later, he luckily had forgotten the skeletons and offered the hospital a wonderful painting of a hippopotamus (Fig. 2), which I was delighted to accept and which is very popular. Mud happy hippo by Frank Hodgkinson. There was an initial, very small, budget for the artworks which was spent on sculpture and some key works for specific positions, such as the forecourt and entrance galleria and other internal courtyards. After it was spent, I undertook to raise any other monies that were needed to continue the collection and was able to raise the funds that could cover the cost of the annual framing and hanging. However, I quickly realised it would not be possible to raise enough funds to purchase artworks of the quality I wanted. I, therefore, turned to the art world for help: artists, photographers and sculptors, as well as commercial art galleries and patrons. Their response was more than generous. Renowned artists, including Tim Storrier, Michael Johnson (Fig. 3), Lindy Lee, Imants Tillers, Janet Lawrence and the late Frank Hodgkinson amongst many, many more donated artworks to the hospital, often giving more than I had asked for and they continue to do so. When I asked the widow of Max Dupain if she could give the hospital four of his works, she responded by giving 30, so the hospital has a great collection of the works of this famous photographer. Homage to Miles Davis by Michael Johnson. Recently, I was looking for an artwork for the entrance to the unit where transplant patients are treated before and after their operations that needed an artwork to lift the ambience. I asked McLean Edwards to donate a painting, because I felt that his somewhat quirky paintings with areas of bright, florescent colours would lift the spirits of the patients and their parents. When I explained where I would be hanging the painting, he responded by giving not one but three works. They now hang in the entrance to the unit and have received some very favourable comments. Nor has the generosity been limited to the art world. A few years ago, JPMorgan were reducing their art collection to fit their new offices and offered the hospital a choice of any of the works they could no longer hang. As a result, the hospital had 72 new works of a high standard including a number of Indigenous works. As knowledge of the collection has grown, I am frequently offered works of art that, provided they fit the criteria, I am always happy to accept, because there are constant requests from hospital staff either for works that they want replaced or for works in areas that do not have any artworks (Fig. 4). This response is particularly pleasing because initially there was a certain scepticism amongst the staff as to what art could possibly do for their new state-of-the-art hospital, especially as there were no other examples in any other hospitals in the region. However, as the art began to appear, this changed from acceptance to pride and now to a demand that art is placed wherever it is deemed to be needed. This appreciation of the art was emphasised when the hospital was repainted recently and the artworks had to be taken down. When they could be re-hung, I took the opportunity of re-arranging them and there was general excitement in seeing them back on the walls and to discovering where personal favourites might now be found (Fig. 5). Follicle by Richard Goodwin. Siavuwi, the black rhino from Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo by Jonathan Delafield Cook. The response from children and parents has always been very favourable, with some extremely touching and rewarding comments. Occasionally, there have been complaints that a painting is ‘unsuitable for a children's hospital’ and in most instances I find it is an adult who makes such a comment while the children have no hesitation in identifying with the painting and accepting it. Today, the art is seen as an integral part of the hospital, creating a welcoming atmosphere and providing a great ambience for the patients, parents and staff. This is now reflected in other paediatric and adult hospitals being built around Australia. Whereas 17 years ago The Children's Hospital at Westmead was unusual in creating an art collection, today the inclusion of artworks is considered to be an essential part of a new hospital or a conversion of an old one. Each hospital goes its own way in choosing and displaying its art, such as the magnificent, exuberant and colourful art that decorates the recently opened new Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. However, whatever the differences in the art displayed in hospitals in Australia and overseas, they all share the same rationale for its inclusion: art, while not curing any disease, does aid patients' wellbeing, helps to uplift spirits and change the hospital's environment and creates a more pleasing, comfortable and embracing surroundings for patients, carers and staff. As Florence Nightingale noted in 1859, ‘the effects of beautiful objects are actual means to recovery.’

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