Many hospitals have exhibit spaces that may catch the eye of visitors and patients alike. But the Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor has raised this concept to an art form by turning the entire hospital into a gallery.
Or galleries: Actually, the center has 12 galleries containing some 250 two-dimensional works in all media by New York state artists. While many of these are in public spaces such as the main lobby, some of the artworks grace the new 84-room patient tower, which was part of HVHC”™s two-year $100-million expansion project.
The works ”“ by artists ranging from the celebrated ”“ Christo ”“ to the regionally renowned ”“ Peekskill”™s Bohdan Osyczka ”“ are mainly representational in type and soothing in quality.
“The research proves what you might think ”“ that landscapes, seascapes and still lifes have a positive effect on patients,” curator Suzanne Bohrer Ashley says, adding that she balances these with the occasional challenging abstraction. “A lot of people say they can just see themselves walking into the works.”
Ashley would seem to be the perfect person to serve as liaison between the hospital and the art world. She retired from her position as director of human resources at HVHC to pursue her artistic passions. A painter herself, she is also owner of the Smith Studio and Fine Arts Gallery in Carmel as well as the A.R.T. Gallery in Croton Falls. Her curatorial eye and business sense both came into play with the purchase of three paintings for the hospital”™s Federspiel Hudson River Gallery ”“ Elaine Galen”™s “Boscobel Setting” and Anne Johann”™s “View From Boscobel,” both inspired by the elegant, turn-of-the-19th-century Garrison estate; as well as Roger Hendricks”™ “The Trees in the Midst.”™”™
The Federspiel gallery ”“ funded by HVHC President and CEO John C. Federspiel ”“ is in the main lobby, along with one of two rotating-exhibit spaces. Through Jan. 1, visitors can see “Set in Stone,” a photographic exhibit from ArtsWestchester ”“ formerly the Westchester Arts Council ”“ charting the importance of stonework in this area.
Despite the purchases for the Federspiel gallery, virtually all of the works in the Art for Health program were donated by the artists.
“An artist myself, I know a lot of artists and started asking them if this was something they wanted to do,” Ashley says of Art for Health, which began casually in the late 1990s, then picked up speed three years ago with the building project.
In some cases, the artists sell the displayed works through The Gifted Gourmet, the hospital”™s gift shop, with a portion of the proceeds going to the hospital, which cannot accept commissions.
Next up for Art for Health ”“ plans to put sculpture into the hospital setting. Ashley thinks the hospital community will embrace this as eagerly as it has become engaged with painting and photography.
“I”™ve gotten tremendous feedback from the staff and the doctors,” she said.
And while she has less contact with patients, the proof of their approval is in the letters she receives after their discharge, she said, and the offers to donate works.
It”™s all part of the continuing dialogue between art and healing.
For more information, log on to hvhc.org. To donate works, write Suzanne Bohrer Ashley at suzanne_ashley@comcast.net
