Lexington, KY - As the new Albert B. Chandler Hospital takes shape, Dr. Michael Karpf and the University of Kentucky have built a solid appreciation for the healing power of the arts into the medical facility's design and its philosophy.
Dr. Michael Karpf walks like a man on a mission, winding quickly and comfortably through the skeletal beginnings of the new UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital.
Karpf, executive vice president for health affairs at the UK HealthCare Center, slows briefly to identify the soon-to-come surgical facilities, patient rooms, a spacious waiting room corridor, a 300-seat auditorium and a chapel. The vision he shares, however, includes more than sterile walls and ceilings. At every turn, Karpf makes note of the art that will eventually bring this healing environment to life. Karpf's aim is to make the arts an integral part of health care services at the hospital.
The practice of combining the arts with health care is not new. Research has shown, for instance, that music can lower heart rates, reduce the need for sedatives in surgical patients, shorten hospital stays due to earlier recovery times and even benefit hospital staff by reducing burn out.
What makes the UK arts and healing program different, however, is that art has taken center stage in the design, rather than becoming a pleasant afterthought, according to Arts in HealthCare Program Director Jackie Hamilton.
"We worked with the architects (Ellerbe Becket) at the outset to make lighting adjustments, and the placement of art was considered in the original design of the new building," Hamilton said.
That dedication to incorporating the arts into the fabric of the medical facility is evident in Karpf's descriptions.
"I'm committed to making this place really human and uniquely Kentucky," Karpf said while leading his brisk tour through the construction site.
He pointed to an opening that will be a 90-foot "Celebrate Kentucky" wall, with backlit photography and video screens depicting images from all regions of the commonwealth.
"This will be visible from the street," he said. "As people arrive, they will see the impressive lighting and changing images."
And that seems to be the point of the Arts in HealthCare Program: to make people feel welcomed, comfortable and unafraid to enter a place most often associated with dread and anxiety.
Dr. Arturo A. Sandoval, alumni endowed professor at UK's Department of Art, College of Fine Arts, serves on the program's advisory committee and calls art in health care an "amazing" idea. He lauds Karpf's leadership in making the idea a reality.
"Art can help create a space where there won't be fear or emotional trauma and will uplift spirits," Sandoval said. "I'm happy to be part of the small team to get it going."
UK Albert E. Chandler Hospital joins other hospitals throughout the country that have utilized the arts for their documented benefits in helping patients through the stresses of illness and recovery.
The UK HealthCare Center received its initial grant in 2006 from the Society for the Arts in Health Care, and received 20 hours of consulting by a national expert. A volunteer art committee, comprised of community leaders, faculty, artists and collectors, serves as an advisory group for the program, and they will participate in the selection of art and related activities.
The UK program will also include a research element in the music therapy component to measure the effectiveness of different types of music in healing.
Hamilton cites the strong partnership with the local arts community, which includes the Kentucky Arts Council, UK Art Museum, Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, LexArts, New Center for Contemporary Art, Lexington Art League, Tuska Studios, Speed Museum and the Kentucky Folk Art Center.
Funding for the UK Arts in HealthCare Program will be entirely through grants and private donations, according to Hamilton, and no dollars will be taken from operational costs of the hospital. The first major fundraiser, to help raise matching dollars for the Little Foundation grant, will be held in April.
Kentucky artists to be showcased
Hamilton's job includes the coordination and scheduling of the artwork and associated activities for the new hospital.
"We're going to use all forms of art - visual, performing, literary, theater, music, and dance - to create a healing environment that enhances health care," Hamilton said.
The performing arts are being funded by a grant from the W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation. The grant also underwrites the establishment of a graduate degree program in music therapy at the UK School of Music, whereby students will provide music therapy to hospital patients.
Performances by individuals or groups will take place in the state-of-the-art auditorium that will be capable of broadcasting live to every patient room, as well as to partner hospitals.
Hamilton said the visual arts will have a "Kentucky connection" but may also include some nationally and internationally recognized artists.
The chapel, an endowment from philanthropist Myra Leigh Tobin, will feature art glass designed by British artist John Reyntiens that depicts springtime in Kentucky. Other commissioned art pieces, along with a rotating gallery of art, will be placed in public areas, patient floors and the emergency department.
Lexington artists Erika Strecker and Tony Higdon of Higdon-Strecker Studios are designing and building four sculptural sconces made of metal and hand-blown glass. The sculptural light fixtures will be permanently installed inside the entry vestibules leading to the auditorium.
"Art has long played the role of helping us deal with the wide-ranging strata of what it means to be human," said Strecker. "The integration of artwork in a health care environment helps us all feel connected."
Steven Powell, a professor at Centre College and an artist himself, will have two of his glass pieces on display. Powell describes them as "frozen moments in time" using "emotive color combinations, texture and postures."
"I hope that patients and family members that are dealing with difficult health issues will be distracted and, at least, have a momentary reprieve from their troubles," Powell said.
"I am a firm believer that beauty can heal."
A collection of folk art from the Kentucky Folk Art Center at Morehead State University will be represented also, with some pieces already on display throughout the current hospital.
Adrian Swain, artistic director for the Folk Art Center, said it is an honor to be part of the UK Art in HealthCare initiative.
"A lot has been said and written about the beneficial effects of art," said Swain. "Art encourages us to think intuitively and to see the world around us in ways we might not previously have considered. Art enables us to consider alternatives. It can inspire positive thought. It offers hope."
Swain said much of the art selected from the center is colorful, with many containing cultural references that Kentuckians will recognize. He noted that, befittingly, many of the participating artists began making art in response to a major life event and found balance in their lives through the creative process.
"We should not be surprised that others would find healing energy within the work these artists created on their own healing path to self-knowledge," he said.
Swain hopes to expand the existing collection to allow for the art to be rotated to different locations within the hospital, giving people something new to look at on a regular basis.
Looking forward to smiles
While the new hospital building will not be complete until early 2011, inclusion of the arts in health care has already begun. Art pieces are on display in parts of the current facility. And during the 2009 Christmas holiday, local musicians from the School of Music provided entertainment for patients.
Hamilton hopes to partner with the UK School of Arts in the near future to provide art therapy for patients. She also envisions working with the Lexington Children's Theatre and the Lexington Ballet.
"It can go in a million different directions," Hamilton said, "and we're developing the program as we go, depending entirely on private funding."
UK Board of Trustees Chair Mira Ball calls the marriage of art and healing a "win-win" for everyone.
"Not only will it provide a warm, aesthetic environment that will lift the spirits of both our patients and their families," said Ball, "it also will allow the university to showcase the talented artists who call UK and the commonwealth home."
With high hopes and plans for the future, Karpf continues the day-to-day nurturing of the new hospital's construction, keeping things on schedule and within budget. His own vision for the arts and healing is as clear as the view of the construction site from his office windows at Wethington.
"I want to see a building where everyone - not just patients - will be able to roam about and find smiles," he said.