Public Art as Public Health: The Role of Visual Art in Hospitals
Drawing on findings from the Hospital Murals Evaluation (HoME), the largest international study of murals in hospitals, and grounded in the lived experience of artists working in hospital spaces, this panel traces a through line from evidence to policy—from Champanier’s 1938 WPA-commissioned Alice of Wonderland Visiting New York murals and Keith Haring’s iconic gift to Woodhull Hospital to the evidence-informed, community-shaped care environments being built today.
The panel brings together researchers, policymakers, clinicians, artists, and philanthropists to imagine a hospital of the future where the arts are a vital and normal part of quality care.
Speakers
- Diya Vij — Commissioner, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
- Lilly Tuttle — Senior Curator of the Collection, Museum of the City of New York
- Larissa Trinder — Assistant Vice President, NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine
- Rick Luftglass — Executive Director, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
- Stephen Stapleton — Founding Co-Director; Founder & CEO, Jameel Arts & Health Lab; EOA CULTURUNNERS
- Ebony Bolt — Visual artist
- Dr. Maryann Julia Popiel, MD, CPE, FAPA — Chairperson of Behavioral Healthcare Services; Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital; Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Nisha Sajnani — Professor and Director; Founding Director; Co-Director, NYU Steinhardt Graduate Program in Drama Therapy; Arts & Health at NYU; Jameel Arts & Health Lab
- Melinda Šefčić, PhD — Visual artist, researcher, and educator specializing in Arts & Health
- Mai Lê Hồ — Dance artist, curator, educator, and Founding Director, LayeRhythm Productions