Really…how does one buy art for health and healing?
This is a legitimate question. Gone are the days (and thank goodness) when any misguided art critic or consultant could dismiss healthy and healing art as just another flighty idea or fancy. There’s just too much evidence—if one wants to do the research—to support buying “real art” that also improves our health and promotes healing.
Today’s topic is “What’s real and what’s fake evidence-based art?”
I recently viewed a painting—get this—with fork tips (tines) as a person’s head and arms. The entire body was misshapen and leaned so far to one side it was w—a—y off balance. If I suffered from vertigo, looking at this painting might even land me “splat” on the floor. And yet, this was truly a great painting…a legitimate work of contemporary art.
The problem—and a BIG problem today—is the website where I viewed it rates itself as a curated art resource for the healthcare industry. What’s more, this “humans represented as eating utensils” and “misshapen body way off balance” was awarded a prize and featured as (Are you ready?) a healthy and healing work of art. Please…please…please…where is the “evidence-based” responsibility in any of that?
Evidence-based art isn’t just a name you stick on something. It’s lots of “evidence-based” knowledge and many “evidence-based” principles—working together—for the positive health and healing outcomes of others. This so-called curated art website, with its many lofty connections and endorsements, did not use evidence-based knowledge (based on actual medical studies) and did not follow the evidence-based guidelines.
As an EDAC certified artist, as I go through the process of creating evidence-based art, I know I’m not free. There are rules and guidelines and principles, and I follow them because I believe in the evidence and care more about creating positive health and healing outcomes in others than my own self-satisfaction or artistic glory.
I recently participated in a call for submissions for a hospital adding on a new wing. What a professional joy it was to work with the art consulting company they hired. Their EDAC standards were super high and they were very specific about their requirements. Two of my very cheerful and mood lifting evidence-based paintings were submitted to meet the art consultancy’s requirements of art with therapeutic properties benefitting its viewers, including patients, visitors and staff.
Hope’s Sunshine by Dorothea Sandra 36”x48” acrylic on canvas
Hope’s Sunshine by Dorothea Sandra, BA, EDAC 36”x48” Acrylic on canvas. Local “evidence-based” vista with an abundance of flowers to uplift and heal.
I also submitted one of my favorite paintings, A Bouquet Of Love For You, 36”x36” acrylic on canvas. I love the light and cheerful background color and the odd but cute dabs of funny flowers. I did a similar one, which ended up in a child’s room in Los Angeles, and the little girl was so surprised and delighted she now wants me to paint her entire room like this next time I’m in LA. (I told her we’ll do it together. I really love kids! They’re so adorable and fun to play and paint with.)
A Bouquet Of Love For You 36”x36” Acrylic on Canvas
The Healing Window 36”x48” Acrylic on Canvas
For my last submission, I decided to design a painting specifically for the new wing of the hospital. I called it The Healing Window, 36”x48” professional level acrylics on gallery wrapped canvas. The painting is “real art”—not wall decoration—using EDAC principles (local vista, nature’s beauty) and speaking to the issues of health and healing (uplifting colors and movements).
I wanted the viewer to stand in front of the painting and look outside, as if from one of the new hospital wing’s windows. This would create a connection/bond between the artist (and the hospital who allowed the art on the wall) and its viewers. I wanted the window view to say: “I’m here with you.” “I feel with you.” “You are not alone.” “We share in this experience together.”
In the background I created a view of Little Traverse Bay, the beautiful view people will see once the wing is finished and one of the area’s most amazing vistas. (Including a local landmark or vista is evidence-based.) I decided against adding ripples and waves to the water (which can sometimes create stress, dizziness, nausea) but added interest and diversity with a left-to-right water color gradation (from blue to an aqua green mix), just as it appears in this lovely bay.
I also included my signature style of an abundance of healthy and filled with life flowers. To create an abundance of beauty without stress, I chose softer colors without any “POW!” impact. I really, really struggled over whether to add a bold black/blue line across the top of the vases. I knew it would instantly add artistic drama, but I decided against it. I reminded myself that I was striving to stimulate “active” health and healing without causing any stress or creating too much visual impact.
So…how does one buy art for health and healing? There are always my websites at https://dorotheasandra.com and https://dorotheasandragallery.com, but I also highly recommend The Center For Health Design and their art consultancy advocates. These people are super pros and, at least in my opinion, they do things right!