Art has been an integral part of the healing environment at Wishard since T.C. Steele and others first installed murals in 1914. Nearly 100 years later -- when The New Wishard opens in 2014 -- art and medicine will have progressed dramatically, along with studies correlating exposure to art and natural beauty with improved health outcomes. And Wishard’s commitment to caring for the whole person will continue.

On Friday, Wishard shared a collection of initial proposals for art – a small number of which it plans to select for fabrication and installation in The New Wishard for the next 100 years and beyond – with a crowd of civic, government, health and arts community leaders and the public at historic City Market in the heart of downtown.

"Wishard is, foremost, committed to delivering the highest quality patient care," said Matthew Gutwein, president and CEO of Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County, which operates Wishard. "At Wishard, and in The New Wishard, our focus extends to our patients, visitors and staff for whom providing the best possible environment augments quality of care.

For nearly a century, if not longer, art has been an integral component of creating a healing environment, one that is comforting, welcoming, warm and inspiring. With the support of philanthropy, with which we plan to fund the art program, Wishard will incorporate art to optimize this environment in The New Wishard."

Wishard's art committee will review all of the proposals and make a small number of specific selections for The New Wishard. City-County Councillor Angel Rivera , Wishard CEO and Medical Director Dr. Lisa Harris, and Co-chair of The New Wishard Capital Campaign John Thompson joined Gutwein at the event.

"Volumes of medical, psychological and neurological research have focused attention on understanding the full scope of the healing properties of art, and the positive correlation is clear and compelling," said Dr. Harris. "The art of healing is an important feature of our new hospital and part of our overall vision for The New Wishard to lead the way in patient-centered care. For Wishard, we seek to create a holistic environment of health and healing – through visual arts, outdoor views and garden settings, through our sky farm and farmers market, as well as our involvement with the slow food movement. Wishard is about more than acute care, it’s about complete community health and wellness."

The event kicks off a two-week public comment period for the set of art proposals. From March 21 through April 1, City Market will continue to post displays, while Wishard will place exhibits and/or flipbooks of the proposals, along with comment forms, in the Sunshine Hallway at Wishard Memorial Hospital and in each of its Wishard Community Health Centers located throughout the city. Wishard will hold a closing exhibit for the art proposals from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at City Market on Friday, April 1 as part of the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association First Friday gallery tour and will also display the art with comment forms online at www.TheNewWishard.org.

"Wishard is engaging the public and ensuring that the art program for The New Wishard is as connected to the community as Wishard has been for more than 150 years" said Thompson. "The New Wishard Capital Campaign is actively engaging the philanthropic community as we work to fulfill Wishard’s plan to fund the art program entirely through philanthropy."

Wishard budgeted $1.8 million for the art program and plans to fund the art program through philanthropy. More than 500 applicants from 39 states submitted responses to Wishard’s request for qualifications. An independent jury selected 54 finalists, and Wishard’s art committee assigned finalists to different areas of the new hospital. The first set of proposals features 27 design proposals. Of the proposing artists, 29 percent are Indiana residents, 3 percent are disabled, 7 percent are veterans, 37 percent are minorities and 29 percent are women and includes an artist who in his submission stated he credits Wishard with saving his life when he was seriously ill. Local minority-owned business enterprise Blackburn Architects is the art program administrator.

"When the New Wishard opens, our firm will be celebrating 40 years of practice in this community and we’re proud to serve as administrator of the New Wishard art program," said Alpha
Blackburn, president and CEO of Blackburn Architects. "It is a privilege to be a part of The New Wishard and an art program that aspires to the highest form of art."

To learn more about the project and to view designs online, visit www.TheNewWishard.org. For more information about Wishard Health Services, visit www.Wishard.edu.

Contact: Michelle O'Keefe 
Phone: (317) 630-6863 
Pager: (317) 310-5972