The art of healing

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This article was published 26/02/2009 (6300 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PAT Bovey knows only too well that St. Boniface Gen­eral Hospital echoes with personal stories and sor­rowful memories for thousands of Manitobans.

At first, she wasn’t sure she could handle the curatorial leadership of the hospital’s art gallery, which opened about 18 months ago.

"My husband died in this hospital, and it was very sudden," says Bovey, 60, a senior member of the arts community who was curator of the Winnipeg Art Gallery for five years, until 2004.

"So when I was asked to do this, I really had to think. And it has been fantastic."

 

The notion of a free art gallery in a hospital summons thoughts of folksy watercolours and amateur crafts displayed in an out-of-the-way corner.

But the Buhler Gallery, established through a donation from philanthropists John and Bonnie Buhler, is a professionally equipped exhibition space. It has a prominent location off the hospital’s main-entrance atrium.

Bovey, who works as an independent arts consultant and has the title "project lead" at the Buhler, believes it’s the only hospital space in Canada to operate as a public gallery with rotating shows by significant professional artists.

This week, the gallery marks the official opening of its first show to feature international artists. Titled The Street and originally assembled in 2006, it’s a touring exhibition of about 35 photographs from the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, an affiliate of the National Gallery of Canada.

"This is the first time they’ve loaned (a show) to a hospital," Bovey says.

The six artists in the show, on display until April 17, are Robert Frank, Tom Gibson, Dave Heath, Michael Schreier, Robert Walker and Justin Wonnacott. Their photographs, both black and white and colour, capture street scenes in various ways and explore the boundaries between private and public domains.

The images, dating from the mid-1950s to 2004, include faces of many ages and cultural backgrounds, which is important because the gallery is committed to reflecting the demographics of the hospital population, Bovey notes.

Since it opened in September 2007, the Buhler has had more than 25,000 visitors, representing every province and territory, about half the U.S. states and four continents. About one-third of those viewing art are patients, one-third hospital staff and one-third visitors.

"Our vision is to be an oasis of contemplation, healing and rejuvenation," Bovey says about the restful gallery, which offers soft benches, a homey gas fireplace and a permanent, nature-evoking glass sculpture.

The guestbook often contains appreciative comments such as, "I feel human again."

"We had a Wanda Koop (work) hanging for a while. A lady came down every day for half an hour and sat in front of that painting. Its colours sang to her."

It’s not unusual to see visitors wearing scrubs. "I think the staff find it a very restorative place," says Bovey.

The gallery is used for concerts and readings as well as exhibitions. Bovey says Winnipeg’s regular gallery-goers have begun making trips to the hospital to view the shows, which change every three to four months.

Studies conducted in Great Britain, Sweden and the U.S. have empirically measured the health benefits of art. "People who engage in live arts — going to concerts, galleries, theatre — live two years longer and cost the health system less," says Bovey, whose own engagement currently includes teaching arts and cultural management at the University of Winnipeg, writing two books and helping to develop an aboriginal arts centre in Thompson.

No Canadian study has yet quantified art’s health effects. Bovey hopes the Buhler will be the setting for such a research project.

The gallery does not present solo shows because its policy is to offer a diversity of voices and perspectives, she says. But it’s all about meaningful art, not blandly soothing visual Muzak.

"We’re certainly not going to serve just pablum," the curator says, "because it’s through that intellectual engagement, that engagement that stirs emotions and feelings and ideas, that the health benefits come…

"I would never expect somebody coming into a gallery to like everything. My hope is that people leave with something."

There are two free, public events at the gallery tied in with The Street:

"ö Today at 2 p.m., there’s a panel discussion about the nature of photography with Winnipeg Free Press photojournalist Phil Hossack and artist-photographers Don Reichert and Sheila Spence.

"ö Friday at 7:30 p.m., Martha Hanna, director of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, will give a presentation about The Street.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

 

ART PREVIEW

The Street

Buhler Gallery, St. Boniface General Hospital, to April 17

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