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By Mathieu St-Gelais, cultural delegate, CHUM
Photos: CHUM

Art in the hospital

Bringing art and culture to the CHUM

The project of bringing art and culture to the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) originated with its Executive Director, Christian Paire, who was closely involved in developing the concept in France. There, it had concrete results, encouraging the departments of health and culture to build relationships for this purpose over the past decade. Hospitals in France are now legally required to have a cultural policy.

The CHUM’s cultural project got off the ground in the fall of 2010 with a visit from French dancer-choreographer Sylvain Groud. Based on his experience as artist-in-residence at the CHU in Rouen, France, he touched the emotions of patients and staff with his sensitive performances at healthcare facilities. Also as part of the project, half a dozen Quebec dancers had a week-long training session at the CHUM, and initial contacts were made with cultural organizations in Montreal. In early 2011, the CHUM showed its commitment to the project by creating the position of Cultural Delegate.

Challenges and credibility

There are special challenges in introducing art into the healthcare environment. Art is viewed as a luxury by some, and pragmatic observers on the outside are quick to criticize if resources are used for art when healthcare services are threatened by budget cuts. It’s therefore only natural to have to work at winning support for the project and demonstrate its benefits.

The credibility of such a project thus relies on two fundamental elements. First, the real impact of art on the patients’ environment and lives must be shown in a concrete way with good, high-quality initiatives. Second, it’s important to secure funding without recourse to monies that would otherwise be used for healthcare and services. In the first year of the project, that’s what we focused on.

Developing a self-funded, quality program

Various steps were taken to gradually establish the credibility of the program. We started by forging alliances with recognized organizations such as the Société pour les arts en milieux de santé (SAMS), which specializes in putting on professional concerts, and the Art for Healing Foundation, which places artworks in healthcare establishments. These alliances will ensure we make good, high-quality artistic choices. We also developed other partnerships to enhance our projects, notably with UQAM’s Faculté des arts, whose physical proximity and solid reputation make it an excellent ally. Lastly, an arts and culture working group was created with CHUM stakeholders from a variety of sectors and representatives of cultural organizations in order to validate and enhance the projects and get those in the CHUM community and the Montreal cultural sector to embrace this vision.

Quality projects obviously cannot be developed without adequate funding. We have to find patrons and get the business community on board, and also cultural institutions in the public sector. Securing funding is an enormous challenge – as it is in the arts milieu in general – and requires creativity and perseverance. We need to come up with innovative approaches and convince future partners of the great potential of the project.

Making hospitals more hospitable

The best way to convince skeptics of the benefits of such a program is to show them the warm response to the projects: the dialysis patient who on hearing a harp tells his nurse that he feels like he’s “floating on a cloud” and momentarily forgets his suffering, or the visitor on his way to a loved one’s bedside who comes across an exhibition of Jean Paul Lemieux prints in the hallway and pauses for a few comforting moments. The presence of art lessens the trauma of the hospital experience. In appealing to the sensitivity of patients, staff and visitors, it makes the healthcare setting more welcoming and human.

A vision for the future

The CHUM’s policy of bringing art and culture to the hospital is rooted first and foremost in the everyday life of the institutions: concerts in the wards, artwork on the walls, a photo exhibition to mark the CHUM’s 15^th anniversary, upcoming creation of an artist-in-residence position, etc. The program thus takes the form of different initiatives primarily targeting the patients and their families and friends, but without neglecting the broader community of healthcare staff and professionals.

However, our efforts are even more wide reaching in that we are trying to open the hospital up to the surrounding city by presenting it as a player in the cultural life of the community. We also want to highlight the history, the cultural and architectural heritage, and the major achievements of the hospitals that make up the CHUM.

The CHUM’s cultural policy is also forward looking. In the huge construction project to build a new leading-edge university hospital and research centre, it’s important not to forget the human side. With its ability to uplift and soothe the soul, art will be there to help us go farther with our healthcare mission.