Healing Arts Program
SaludArte: Art of Healing
SaludArte: Art of Healing program was established by University Health in 2010, with an appointed staff, community leaders and stakeholder committee, to integrate artwork as a healing component in our environments. The two areas completed during the 2014 Capital Improvement Program were the Robert B. Green Clinical Pavilion and University Hospital campuses.
Vision
The vision of the program is to use art to inspire healing, compassion, hope and trust, understanding the healing attributes that exposure to art, nature, color and light can provide in a medical setting.
Goals
- Reflect the community we serve
- Improve the experience of our patients and visitors
- Communicate our mission through art and design enhancements
- Be good stewards of our financial and natural resources
Benefits of art in a healing environment
- Positive distraction from worry and anxiety
- Healing faster, less medication and shorter hospital stays
- Cost effective and savings
- Staff retention and welcoming environment for patients and families
Our Process
The SaludArte: Art of Healing program is laid out in three phases following an evidence-based design approach to art integration.
- Design enhancement, which is art work actually built into the building such as wall designs, metal works, glass frit and screens.
- Public art, art selected for a specific, signature area for placement and a central focus such as a hanging lobby sculpture, electronic artwork along an entrance corridor and site-specific mosaics.
- Art procurement, where staff and patients have a chance to donate artwork to the program or we procure unframed art work from local, regional and national artists. This can include mix media and sculpture.
Robert B. Green Clinical Pavilion
The six-story Robert B. Green Clinical Pavilion opened in January 2013 and contains over 450 pieces of art. Two of our signature pieces of art are “Life in Light” by Cathy Cunningham Little, and Ned Kahn’s “Feather Wall” creating a peaceful, welcoming environment.
Sky Tower
The Sky Tower at University Hospital opened in April 2014, and is a 1.1 million square foot building. Each patient room includes a piece of hand-made glass, visible from the patient’s bed and family area. There are now over 3,000 pieces of artwork, growing from the original 1,200 when the building first opened.
Growth and Expansion
Since 2014, University Health has opened numerous new clinics and renovated older clinics with artwork in our Medical Center campus and Horizon and Rio Towers at University Hospital. The Robert. L.M. Hilliard Center opened in January 2018. The artwork is an important standard and the continuation of quality continues throughout all of our renovated or new built environments.
New Women's and Children's Hospital
Within the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, which will open in 2023, we are preparing artwork to be integrated into the three-phase system. We plan to include the work of hundreds of artists and small businesses for this project. We are focused on the needs of children and women to create a place of discovery, hope, calm and regeneration.
2020 University Health Art Women’s and Children‘s Art Committee
The committee members, appointed by Chair, George B. Hernandez, Jr., are:
- Leni Kirkman, Co-chair, University Health
- Allison Hays Lane, Curator & Archivist, University Health
- Dr. Allison Grimes
- Brenda Lanzel
- Carrie Brown, Community Member
- Don Ryden, University Health
- Edward Schweninger, University Health
- Irene Sandate, University Health
- James Willis, University Health
- Dr. Kristen Plastino
- Lainey Berkus, Community Member
- Harriet Kelley, Community Member
- Rick Lewis
- Sarah Sebton, University Health
- China Whitby, University Health, Program Assistant
Community Partners
Since 2015, SaludArte: Art of Healing has been partnering to create public and to the bedside programming for patients and staff. Our current and past community art partners are:
- Artpace
- Blue Star Contemporary
- Carver Cultural Community Center
- City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs
- Ecumenical Center
- Good Samaritan Center
- Guadalupe Center
- McNay Art Museum
- San Antonio Museum of Art
- Say Si
- Southwest Art School
- St. Phillips College
- UTSA
- Voices de la Luna
- Witte Museum
Our Programs
- Patient channel videos of storytelling
- Art workshops
- Music performances
- Poetry reading
- Artist demonstrations
- Art in the Garden music performances and projects
- Staff art kits give away
- Art in staff Recharge Rooms to support the well-being of our teams
- Staff art exhibitions and cultural outings
We have recently begun a program of bringing music to the nursing stations and patient floors directly as well as main areas such as Infusion and Rehabilitation.
Awards and Recognitions
- 2020 National Organization of Art in Health (NOAH) Special Commendation for utilizing the arts for resilience during COVID-19, Hamilton Awards
- 2014 CODAworks Best Art Integration for a Hospital Interior
Contact Us
Any interested artists or small businesses can look for our University Health Art Calls on our platform partner, www.publicartist.org, which will have FAQs, a link to register as a vendor and updates on our community outreach talks promoting upcoming art opportunities.
Please direct questions to info@publicartist.org.