Client: Charleston Area Medical Center Health System

Overview

The CAMC Healing Arts Program is centered on creating a healing journey from the lobby, through the hallways, and into the treatment areas. Twelve commissioned works of art were created by seven artists whose styles are not only diverse art mediums (glass, wood, oil painting, photography), but also were designed to enhance the environment of care and reflect the diversity of the communities the 100,000 sq.ft. CAMC Cancer Center serves. While the art evokes messages of hope and healing for patients, visitors and staff, each piece has deeper meaning because each artist has a connection to West Virginia and cancer.

Goals

The CAMC Healing Arts program’s primary goal is centered on creating a healing journey by bringing the local community and West Virginia outdoor environment into the healing environment. The visioning, programming, selection, fabrication and installation of the commissioned art was an 18-month process from beginning to end. Each location for art installation was specifically identified by the project team consisting of the CAMC Foundation, Construction Project Management, Art Consultant, Interior Designer, and Healing Arts Selection Committee. All commissioned artwork is installed in designed focal art niches and locations throughout the first thru third floor family waiting areas, community gathering rooms, and main corridors.

The thematic Jonathan Cox hand rubbed wood wall sculptures representing the iconic West Virginia fall leaves were specified as wayfinding guides on floor entrances in three varying shades. Moving into family waiting spaces, Kevin Lyles’ fused glass sculptures were placed for a more intimate viewer experience with the art providing dynamic visuals to touch and see. The Level 2 family waiting space anchored by a stone fireplace is complimented by Linda Schweitzer’s original oil painting “Sandstone Falls.” The piece compliments the interior finishes and demonstrates the untouched beauty of West Virginia’s outdoors loved by natives.

Process

The CAMC Healing Arts Program is the result the capital campaign project vision “Power of Many” which was to create a community project. The first steps of the process included forming a diverse community-based Healing Arts Selection Committee which consisted of cancer survivors, local business leaders, art philanthropists, and caregivers. Healthcare Art Consulting along with the CAMC Health System promoted a state-wide “Call to Artists” in order to review talent. Blind submissions were reviewed to narrow the selection of artists. After artists were confirmed for contention, Healthcare Art Consulting worked with each artist to provide interior finishes, space specifications, and program vision to inform their design ideas for commissioned artwork. Then, all design ideas were presented to the Committee for final selection of winning design concepts. For the next six months Healthcare Art Consulting coordinated with the Artists, Construction Project Management, and Healing Arts Committee to oversee fabrication and production of site-specific works of art created for the CAMC Cancer Center. From coordinating wall blocking, lighting, framing, to installation hardware, the artists collaborated with the project team to create the final art installations. The end result was a healing environment created by and reflection of the “Power of Many”.

Additional Information

In addition to the twelve commissioned works of art, over 200 photographs of healing nature images were installed in patient treatment areas and staff workspaces to contribute to the overall mission of the healing arts program. All twenty-nine artists represented at the CAMC Cancer Center have a connection to West Virginia and cancer. You can learn more about the artists by visiting http://camc.org/documents/camctoday/qjanuary2015.pdf .