The Phipps Center for the Arts

The Healing Arts Program: A Collaboration of Hudson Hospital and The Phipps Center for the Arts

In 2001, The Phipps Center for the Arts and Hudson Hospital embarked on an innovative collaboration to exhibit, acquire, and commission original work by regional artists. While the health care field has begun to embrace the understanding that a well-designed environment that integrates the visual arts can have a positive impact both on a patient's healing process and on staff morale, the Healing Arts Program at Hudson Hospital is unique. It is the only one of its kind that involves a collaboration between two community-based organizations.

At any given time, work by several regional artists is on display in waiting areas, conference rooms, patient and staff corridors, procedure rooms, and patient rooms. Exhibits are rotated every three to four months, offering variety and interest for staff, as well as opportunities for many regional artists to participate.

Reception: Friday, November 20, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Toni Easterson and Douglas K. Limon are featured artists with work on view in the main corridor through December 13.

"Upon learning about the existence of my Native American grandmother a few years ago, I started to bead and sew like I had seen my aunts do when I was growing up. I have turned my attention to working with textiles in the last couple of years and I haven’t looked back," states Toni Easterson.

Easterson’s work reflects her discovered heritage with bright colors, natural materials, and organic designs. Her work bridges time, cultures, and esthetic expression in powerful and sensitive narrations of beauty.

Limon is an Ojibwe/Oneida beadwork artist whose work is an expression of the spirituality of ancient traditions and the culture that has survived more than 1,000 years. He beads on a variety of papers using a one-needle technique and his turtle images combine beadwork with metal objects such as Indian head/buffalo nickels. Limon’s artwork is based on the rich Native American culture, especially of the Ojibwe and the Oneida Nations, combined with the influence of contemporary materials and ideals of the modern world.

In addition, currently on view are explorations of childlike imagery by Victoria Demos Stevens. These richly layered prismacolor drawings are colorful while not always whimsical. "I hope these drawings appeal to children, but that adults can far better appreciate them," states Stevens. Her work is on view through December 13.

Also on view through November 15 are exuberant non-representational acrylics by Odessa, Wyeth-inspired ceramics by Peter Landherr, archetypal photographic collages by Margaret Holmes, and Jodi Reeb-Myers’s nature inspired multi-media images; through November 22 are David Mngodo’s delicate acrylic abstractions; through December 13 are environmentally sensitive paintings by Lindsy Halleckson, and Michael McGraw’s perceptive photographs depicting ordinary people; and Elisabeth Paper’s elegant cranes appear in the main conference rooms through January 10, 2010.

These and other regional artists working in a variety of media offer ongoing exhibits at Hudson Hospital. The Healing Arts Program which is a collaboration between Hudson Hospital and The Phipps Center for the Arts presents these exhibits free of charge and open to the public.

For more information on the healing arts program or to schedule a tour, please contact Margaret Welshons, Healing Arts Coordinator, at 715/531-6059, or mwelshons@hudsonhospital.org.