As Manager of one of the largest public hospital art collections in Canada at VGH and UBC campuses, Katharine Knowles has incredible stories to share about her experience of working with art outside the traditional setting of a gallery. — Laura Busby
How do the staff and patients respond to the art collection?
Late at night when the hospital is quiet, it’s not uncommon to find people leaving their rooms for the day to get some exercise, looking closely at the art works.
During peak hours, hospital visitors rushing to find a loved one or staff running from one floor to the next will often stop to admire a painting or photograph that caught their eye. There is one large-scale abstract painting by B.C. artist Jack Shadbolt that hangs in a particularly busy hallway in the Jim Pattison Pavilion that really grabs people’s attention. We like to think this brief pause helps release them back into the world refreshed.
What kind of works are appropriate for the hospital?
You would be surprised by the risks we take to show a diverse range of art. However, there are a few hard stops in what we will not show to the public including extremely visceral imagery or sexual content. We avoid showing any works where the prominent colour is red; the last hue that you want to see for obvious reasons when you are at a hospital.
Hanging in the medical student wing of The Diamond Pavilion are the works that are too challenging to hang elsewhere in the hospital, but we find them charming and full of character. We hope the art helps the students’ state of mind while they are studying hard!
What does the future look like for public hospital art collections?
It’s becoming more common for medical facilities to design their environments with art in mind. The simple architectural features like wall space, lobby areas and lighting make all the difference for displaying art effectively. This was the case for the Joseph & Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre where the campaign to acquire art started before the construction of the building to ensure that the art would integrate well into the spaces.
BC Children’s Hospital has recently commissioned work specifically for the building’s interiors and exteriors by prominent Canadian artists. There are also initiatives by hospitals to provide an art cart program, where patients confined to a room can select fine art to hang on their walls, as a way to have agency in their hospital experience.
What’s your favourite work in the collection and why?
An abstract painting titled Blue Shore by artist Alan Wood. The work has endless interpretive possibilities because of its abstract nature and I love that people respond to it is so many different ways. The artist challenged himself to create a landscape image without using green! If you look closely, the blue area is textured, the artist collaged canvas on top of canvas to suggest the movement of water.
If you would like to make a financial donation to assist with maintaining and growing art collections in BC Hospitals please contact the Development or Foundation Departments for the hospital you wish to support. If you would like to learn more about the VGH + UBC Hospital Foundation Art Collection or make a financial contribution to the project https://vghfoundation.ca/donate/artprogram/
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