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. 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 Correspondence: Mrs Joanna Capon, Honorary Art Curator, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney 2023, Australia. Fax: 02 9327 4102; email: joannacapon@westnet.com.au