Art in Interesting Places

On my drive home tonight I heard a very interesting story on NPR about art in hospitals, where critical-care rooms like bone marrow transplant and MRIs are painted with decorative art to ease their patients.  The interviewees said that the art has become trans-formative; taking the patients away from a stressful, hard situation to being able to relax their minds as they enjoy the art-scape.  I am intrigued by the notion that there is a such tangible value to the softer calming effect of beautiful art.  I am impressed that hospitals are willing to spend thousands of dollars to help create some psychological calm in this seemingly esoteric way.  What a statement about the essential need for visual escapism.

This makes me wonder where I've seen art in my surroundings in unusual places, helping to make something stark and utilitarian seem not quite so bad.  Graffiti comes to mind, so does public sculpture, murals at public transit stops and even the poster of underwater fish that my dentist puts on the ceiling above his patient's chair.  My favorite local example were the fire hydrants painted like famous works of art.  I realize there's a fine line between fun and kitschy, calming and annoying, and by no means do these pieces compare with the hospital commissions in emotional effect.  But isn't it nice to see some effort, some societal recognition that plainness doesn't always have to be the norm? - l.o.d.