Being a huge supporter of C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, I was thrilled to learn that the new Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital will be opening this November with an outstanding collection of 241 individual art pieces. Most of the featured artists have a connection with Michigan, whether they were born here, live here now or were educated in Michigan. Another interesting aspect on the group of artists is that almost half of them are women, which the committee felt to be an important factor. This $1.8 million dollar project is made possible exclusively through private donations.

The idea behind the collection is to incorporate nature inspired by familiar and admired landscapes throughout Michigan to stimulate the healing and therapeutic process for patients of ranging disabilities. Art therapy has been acknowledged and occasionally practiced for some years now, but as therapies and rehabilitation become more and more innovative, the arts (ranging from paintings to poetry readings) are becoming more established in the remedial process.

A website devoted to the concept of healing art explains:

“Scientific studies tell us that art heals by changing a person’s physiology and attitude. The body’s physiology changes from one of stress to one of deep relaxation, from one of fear to one of creativity and inspiration. Art and music put a person in a different brain wave pattern, art and music affect a person’s autonomic nervous system, their hormonal balance and their brain neurotransmitters.”

Since art has been used as a means of communication and interactions for many centuries, it should come as no surprise or generate any doubt that it has the power to heal. These kinds of inspired and groundbreaking developments should be recognized around the world in the hopes that other hospitals will be encouraged by the collection’s impact on rehabilitation.

For more information about making a gift to support the art collection, please email mottdevelopment@umich.edu or call (734) 998-6069.

(Photo by Pilotagge under a Creative Commons license)

2 Comments

• Adam says:

  October 7, 2011 at 9:59 am

  I love that art therapy is starting to be used at such an astounding institution. Most regard art therapy as junk, but I’m an avid supporter of the process. The healing process has helped my grandmother immensely.

  Thank you for covering this!

  Reply
  • Lauren says:

    October 8, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    Adam, thank you so much for commenting. It is always great to hear personal accounts and success stories. I am so glad that this therapy helped your grandmother and can only hope that more institutions recognize the potential of art therapy and no longer think of it as “junk”.

    Reply