MetroHealth Wins National Award for Glick Center Arts Collection

MetroHealth Wins National Award for Glick Center Arts Collection

In another nod to the accomplishments of MetroHealth's influential Center for Arts in Health, the team has been honored with a first-place national award for the positive impact The Glick Center Art Collection has had on the patients, visitors and employees who spend time in the hospital tower.

The Center for Arts in Health, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, received the Cam Busch Arts Transforming Environments Award at the National Association for Arts in Health (NOAH) annual conference October 23-25 in Houston, Texas. HGA, the national architecture firm that designed The Glick Center, and LAND studio, the Cleveland-based public art organization that helped coordinate local artists and artwork for the project, were named as co-recipients.

The award recognizes the collection of more than 1,000 works of art, including murals and photography commissioned for The Glick Center, which opened in November 2022. With more than 74% of the artwork by local artists, The Glick Center reflects the community it serves.

"This award is validation of the intentional effort to ensure MetroHealth's visual art program inspires a sense of hope, healing and belonging while embodying the spirit of our vibrant community," said Linda Jackson, Director and Founder of the Center for Arts in Health. "It's a wonderful way to mark our first 10 years of bringing the healing effect of the arts to the MetroHealth community."

The NOAH award reinforces the findings of a research study the Center for Arts in Health and HGA conducted earlier this year to learn how The Glick Center's art collection influences the experience of those who spend time in the hospital spaces. The study surveyed 230 patients and family members, visitors and employees. Among the findings: More than 90% of the respondents considered the artwork in The Glick Center lobby to be inviting, calming, happy, hopeful and a reflection of the community.

Over the last decade, beyond its work curating the visual art throughout the system, the Center for Arts in Health has developed innovative initiatives that use creative expression to support the well-being of MetroHealth patients. In 2021, the Center became part of MetroHealth's Institute for H.O.P.E.^TM, which works to address the social drivers of health that contribute to health inequity.

Most recently, the Center for Arts in Health launched ArtsRx, a pilot project that allows providers to "prescribe" free arts activities and experiences for socially isolated patients. The project links patients with opportunities for creative expression led by local artists and arts organizations.

National Spotlight

The Glick Center's artwork and interior design captured the attention of representatives from NOAH last year, when the organization convened its annual conference in Cleveland, bringing more than 250 artists and healthcare professionals.

From the earliest design stages, the vision for The Glick Center was to make art a central focus of the new hospital tower's spaces.

Among the most prominent pieces in The Glick Center Art Collection is Lynnea Holland-Weiss' mural "Embrace" on the wall overlooking the main dining space. The mural depicts two figures in an embrace, representing the compassion, hope and healing that are at the heart of MetroHealth's mission.

Emmanuelle Moureaux's sculpture of vibrantly colored acrylic discs suspended from the dining-area ceiling is designed to mirror the sunlight shining through The Glick Center's large windows.

"All of it is so impressive," NOAH Past-President Barbara Steinhaus said before the NOAH conference in Cleveland last year. "The artwork at MetroHealth lends a spirit of the home, a sense of invitation, of belonging."

This is not the first time NOAH has recognized the MetroHealth Center for Arts in Health's innovative programs and initiatives. In 2020, the Center's SAFE Project (Students Are Free to Express) won the organization's Hamilton International Arts in Health Award in the Arts Advancing Social Justice category.

The SAFE Project is a partnership of MetroHealth's Center for Arts in Health, its School Health Program (SHP) and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) to bring local teaching artists into the classroom to address emotional resiliency through the arts. The project aims to help younger children recognize and process their emotions and to provide adolescents with tools for coping and reducing stress.

Earlier this month, the Center for Arts in Health presented about The Glick Center Art Collection at the national Healthcare Design Conference + Expo at the Indiana Convention Center. Jackson also will receive Inlet Dance Theatre's inaugural Community Partner Award at the performing arts organization's annual fundraising event Nov. 8. Inlet Dance Theatre is a collaborator with the Center for Arts in Health's SAFE Project and ArtsRX pilot program, which allows providers to "prescribe" arts activities and experiences for their patients who are experiencing stress or isolation and loneliness.

"Linda Jackson and her team have built the MetroHealth Center for Arts in Health into a nationally recognized program that not only contributes to our patients' healing and wellness, but also extends beyond the hospital walls to uplift our community," said Srinivas Merugu, MD, President of the Institute for H.O.P.E.^TM "The Glick Center Collection is a great source of pride and just one example of their extraordinary work."