Eskenazi Health Artwork Recognized Nationally

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Eskenazi Health Artwork Recognized Nationally

Posted: June 20, 2014

Published: 03/17/2011
One of 19 artists commissioned to create original works for the new Eskenazi Health campus was recently recognized at a national art contest in Nashville, Tenn., for his work which is displayed at the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital.

Adam Frank’s Arbor, a permanent art installation inside the new Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, was selected as a 2014 Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review award recipient, the highest recognition for public art in the United States. PAN is the only professional network in the country dedicated to advancing public art programs and projects through advocacy, policy and information resources to further art and design in our built environment.

“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. Lisa E. Harris, chief executive officer of Eskenazi Health. “The new Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and Eskenazi Health campus feature art and garden spaces like Arbor intended to enrich the lives of patients, visitors, staff and the community. It is gratifying to see this effort recognized nationally by this award.”

The Arbor art installation features different tree species on each floor of the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, with the Indiana state tree, the tulip tree, on the first floor, which can be seen from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation Concourse at Eskenazi Health.

“Arbor provides the hospital with an iconic, quiet work that symbolizes health and life. This work brings familiar, organic, natural lighting effects into what is normally a cold and sterile environment,” Frank said. “Arbor brings natural lighting effects into the modern built environment in an entirely new way. The project is specifically meant to enhance how hospital patients, families and staff feel about the space they occupy.”

“A century ago, the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild brought together prominent artists to paint murals – more than a quarter mile of them – for what was then City Hospital’s new building. It is our great responsibility to honor and carry this legacy forward,” said Matthew R. Gutwein, president and chief executive officer of Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County. “Adam Frank’s Arbor is one example of how we have integrated art in a unique way as a floor identifier and a wayfinding symbol. By associating trees with the elevator lobbies and particular tree shapes with the various levels within the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, we are able to achieve both an uplifting environment as well as landmarks to help patients traveling from floor to floor.”

The unique layering technique developed for Arbor allows incredibly high detail in the leaves closest to the glass. Each vein of these leaves is visible. It also provides true depth of field. Optical and rendered dappled light effects can be seen through the tree branches. The resulting image is both 3D and 2D, detailed and ephemeral simultaneously. This creates a strong illusion of the presence of a real tree just beyond the glass plane.

Frank’s Arbor was one of 37 projects out of 345 selected for the 2014 PAN Leadership Awards. Frank received his art training at the Rhode Island School of Design and at Brown University. As a digital media artist and game designer, he created groundbreaking 3D digital environments and effects. He has exhibited, among other places, at SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques) and at the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York, where he has work on permanent display. He also has lighting products sold through the Design Store at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Frank’s work has been profiled in both print and broadcast media, including NBC, CBS, HGTV, CNN, The New York Times, Metropolis, Dwell and the Architectural Record. He lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review annually recognizes outstanding public art projects that represent the most compelling work for the year from across the country. Two or more public art professionals serve as jurors to review hundreds of project applications and select 50 projects from across the country to include. The Public Art Network Year in Review is the only national program that specifically recognizes public art projects.

The Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and Eskenazi Health campus opened on Dec. 7, 2013. Eskenazi Health offers a welcoming environment of health and healing through access to natural settings and an extensive art collection, which studies show contributes to improved health outcomes.

Following an extensive public engagement and comment process, Eskenazi Health’s art committee selected artists that represent the rich diversity of the Indianapolis community, including native Hoosiers and artists born or living in Indianapolis, and artists representing women, minorities and people with disabilities. More than half – 57.8 percent – of the full art program comes from local Indiana artists, while 47 percent of the artists are minorities, 31.5 percent are female, 10.5 percent are veteran, 5.2 percent are individuals with disabilities and 5.2 percent are seniors. The Eskenazi Health Art Program is being funded by philanthropy.