Question 1: Do you agree with my interpretation of the images’ colours on display in the new Tweed District Hospital?
Question 2: What is the common name given by the public of this particular colour shown favoured by Regional NSW Health see circle?
Can colour in health care environments be injurious? USA research study: Colour in Healthcare Environments.
I have been appreciative of art (and a critic) ever since my twin sister started drawing horses at 5 years old and completing years of complementary wellness studies I am fully aware of the presentation of walls (and decor) that are viewed all day long and the effect on emotions.
I visited the new Tweed District Hospital on ‘open day’ to view layout and décor. The hospital is huge and I am not sure they could get enough staff to fill it considering the wages are less than in Qld. The building inside, where we were allowed to view, were long corridors and enclosed rooms upon rooms (and it has been announced that the hospital building in parts has mould). Some art work i.e. murals on the walls were in place but there are 70 or so more art works to come. The nurses said that framed artwork cannot be sterilized and thus are not suitable but speaking with the hospital auxiliary in regard to the special selected artwork/sculpture for the entry and the question of health safety as 'how will they clean that hanging thing of dust and bacteria' remained unanswered. The design consists of what looks like thousands of small leaves glued to a central column (think how dusty your artificial plants get in your own house).
Now consider you are entering this space because you are unwell physically or mentally and possibly scared, tense, fearful, depressed, anxious, and lonely. People have not socially came to check-out the artwork style and colours!
Of course there was indigenous art work included. Below a small sample of what was on display but the colours intrigued me particularly for healing institutional buildings because of the pastels’ images being unable to physically capture life’s energy force and apply it to these pastel surfaces (and I do love soft and bright watercolours) so they appear to me as the energy (or life) being sucked out of me when I am low on the wellness scale and no choice but to view same; saturation and luminance (vibrancy) is not evident even as applied as a balance to possibly kick-up the viewer’s life systems or for the staff or visitors’ emotional balance.
Now a colour I never thought I would see again in public ugh, ugly! Why select this particular colour for walls, include in art images, floors and some equipment as it being a dirty yellowish colour and known by the common name given by the general public as: ………..
I will can’t wait to see the finished decor.
Though colour and art therapy are not considered mainstream medicine I consider it does have a ‘Fit for Purpose’ complementary role in emotional comfort, wellness and healing. See our developing gallery of Fit for Purpose artworks incorporating science and real nature for home, schools, health environments and workplaces at: fracarte.com