Hospitals are for healing. But going to a hospital as a patient or visitor can sometimes induce feelings of fear or trepidation. Maple Grove Hospital was designed with this in mind. In response to best practices across the country and feedback from everyday people, the hospital has created a modern healing environment for patients and visitors. The setting at Maple Grove Hospital fosters comfort and tranquility. As part of this purposeful design aesthetic, visually soothing artwork is integrated into the serene atmosphere of the building.
Artwork specially commissioned to facilitate feelings of wellness can be found throughout the hospital. Let’s take a tour.
Nature’s Guidance
by Ross Lawton
In the long-term waiting area just inside the main entrance is a three-panel mixed media mosaic designed and produced by local artists Sandra L. Ross of Minnetonka and Mary Beth Lawton of Plymouth. The creative team began collaborating in 2008. Lawton has a strong background in graphic arts and Ross focuses on the mosaic; both are passionate about surface design. Together, they produce artwork that is environmentally friendly. Their 10-step process involves recycled paper, beeswax and paint. Hand embellished papers are combined with recycled glass for truly original art.
Nature’s Guidance was designed to represent the natural landscape of the hospital’s surrounding area. The three panels work together, but are separate with the left and right panels bringing into close-up view parts of the main, middle panel. Its autumnal colors depict trees alongside a body of water under a misty blue sky.
Petals, Needles and Seeds
by Jon Michael Route
Near the elevators, just left of the main floor lobby, is a geometric, flat paneled piece created by metalsmith, Jon Michael Route of Wisconsin. Route has a Bachelor of Science degree in art, from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work has been exhibited in many art festivals, art fairs and craft shows over the years. He has taught as an adjunct professor and led workshops on the technical aspects of his craft. Also, the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts commissioned Route to create the 2010 Governor’s Awards in Support of the Arts.
Route’s work at Maple Grove Hospital depicts natural elements like leaves, acorns and pinecones in warm, coppery earth tones created through what’s called a ‘hot patina’ process. After the metal is formed, sanded and cleaned, it’s heated to 200 degrees. Chemical patina solutions are brushed, sponged or sprayed on in layers to achieve the rich color that is later sealed with high quality lacquer. The peaceful quality of Route’s work appeals to designers in the healthcare industry and has appeared on the cover of Healthcare Design Magazine.
Picnic in the Park
by Christina Hankins
On the lower level, near the dining room, is a large framed piece made with pastels on paper created by Maple Grove artist, Christina Hankins. She has a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of California, Irvine and a master’s degree in education from Claremont University. Hankins’ artwork has appeared in many galleries, juried shows, art fairs and exhibitions, including the Minnesota State Fair.
Picnic in the Park was designed to be a multi-cultural community piece reflective of those who live in Maple Grove and the surrounding area. Hankins used a color scheme that coordinates with the lovely terraced garden area just outside the dining room. The piece is sunny and bright and depicts a collage of people enjoying an afternoon outdoors near a lake in the summertime.
Untitled
by Tom Nussbaum
Around the corner from the dining room, near the Heron Conference Room, a staggered piece of art made of aluminum cutouts runs along two walls. Silvery birds, grasses and cattails glisten in light that cascades in from the two-story wall of windows along the dining area. Nussbaum is a Minnesota-native artist living in New Jersey. He provided this wall feature to be reminiscent of Midwestern wetlands. The combination of the serenity in nature with a modern metal element puts a contemporary twist on many familiar Minnesota vistas.
Generations and Meditation Lake
by Glenn Quist
Glenn Quist is an artist and designer who lives and works in Elk River. He was commissioned to paint Generations for Maple Grove Hospital’s birthing center and another painting title Meditation Lake located near the trauma center. Quist says the hospital liked his figural painting and wanted something that incorporated diverse human figures in scenes with local flavor.
Generations is intended to give a sense of downtown Maple Grove with what appears to be three generations; grandparents, parents and young children. Meditation Lake is a somewhat idyllic scene around Rice Lake. “I believe,” says Quist, “both are painted to be hopeful, optimistic and calming pieces for people who find themselves in these particular wait areas of the hospital. It's always somewhat daunting to execute artwork that begins with a certain set of expectations and criteria from others. As an artist I have to be mindful and respectful of the wishes of the people who commission the paintings while still finding my own sense of artistic integrity and joy in doing the work. I felt good about these and the way they turned out.”
Quist is currently in the final stages of completing a similar ensemble of four paintings for a new Mayo Clinic in Austin, Minnesota.
Seasons of Life
by Heidi Hoy
Enter the birthing center and you can’t miss a bronze sculpture of a beautifully pregnant woman sheathed in a Grecian style gown. She’s holding a flower in one hand, apparently plucked from the vine climbing the wall behind her. With her other hand, she cups the impending joy of her maternal middle.
Hoy majored in art at Hamline University in St. Paul. But it wasn’t until years later that she decided to dedicate her time to the mastery of sculpting. She says that she strives to capture the beauty, grace and emotion that define the essence of all living beings. Her work is about uplifting the spirit.
Although not to full scale, Seasons of Life is large enough to make a well-appointed statement at the birthing center’s entrance. The woman appears graceful and calm, a presence of peace among nature. The large colorfully blooming flowers on the sculpted bronze vine behind her are made from the lenses of recycled eyeglasses.
If you should ever find yourself as a patient or visitor at Maple Grove Hospital, know that the artwork has been carefully crafted to aid in the comfort of your stay. These are not randomly selected pieces, but specifically designed creations by thoughtful artists to help promote a sense of calm and wellness. Hospitals are for healing. Maple Grove Hospital understands this fully and has made sure that every detail, right down to the pictures on the walls, provides patients and visitors the best possible experience.
