Misawa Artwork Best Practices 10.29.21.pdf

Artwork

General

• Artwork in healthcare facilities must be therapeutic and support evidence based design. Evidence based design has shown that photographic representations of nature can be effective in reducing stress and that patients prefer nature scenes and representative images over stylized and abstract art. These nature scenes can include landscapes as well as dramatic close-up photos of both flora and fauna.

• Artwork subject matter shall be appropriate for the region and locale – regional images help bring a familiarity that can be comforting.

Where possible utilize local artists when making artwork selections.

Example of artwork images reflecting the region of Idaho

Example of artwork images reflecting the southern region of Florida

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Typical Locations for Artwork

• Exam rooms: It will depend on how crowded the exam rooms are and how much wall space is available but typically see artwork in exam rooms, especially exam rooms located in Pediatrics or Women's Health departments.

• Pediatric: Because a patient’s age can range from a few months to the teens, artwork should have a childlike quality in style while maintaining a broad range of appeal as age is a concern.

• Women's Health/Mammography: artwork should have beautiful images of general interest to women of all ages, such as flowers, that can serve as an effective distraction.

• Consult room/Mental Health office: typically locate artwork in consult rooms and social worker/psychologist's offices (private or staff offices do not require artwork).

• Department receptionist: (behind desk)

• Command Dept:

• Images selected tend to be more majestic, in keeping with an executive boardroom.

• Standard substrate is wood frames.

• Chemotherapy/general recovery: Where patients are frequently nauseated, clear still photographs or very realist images are the best choices.

• Blood Draw: Artwork selection to be light hearted and divert the patient's attention away from the needle.

• Mental Health: Cool and calming colors such as blues and greens and tranquil images.

• Stay away from paths or perspectives that could be perceived as endless.

• Limit bold colors that can agitate or excite like black, red or orange. For the same reason, jagged lines or images with chaotic movement should be avoided. Graphic art that creates optical illusions should never be used.

• Gallery wrap canvas with backboard adds softness and texture.

• If framing the art, no glass – should be acrylic (Lexan). Possibly look at wood frames to bring visual warmth.

Examples of majestic images appropriate for a command suite

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Typical Locations for Artwork – Cont.

• Main Lobbies/Corridors/Waiting Rooms: More contemporary images/substrates lend themselves to main lobbies/waiting rooms and main corridors. As patient moves from public areas to point of care such as exam rooms the image, substrate and frame selection needs to reduce patient anxiety.

• Large floral images make a statement, these pieces can be stand alone or be incorporated into collage series in main corridors/lobbies/waiting rooms where strong visual impact is required. These are ideal areas to add collages, interspersing them with single image prints.

• Artwork in corridors should be large, between 26x30 and 32x40 inches. Because medical treatment facilities typically have long, wide corridors, artwork used in these corridors needs to be larger than artwork used in offices.

Examples of collage grouping - collage images can either be on one piece of substrate or each image on separate substrate.

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Variety is important in selecting artwork The goal is to strive for a non-static and interesting artwork package by changing up vertical and horizontal orientation, using a variety of frame sizes, images, substrates and mounting methods.

Substrates

• Canvas wrapped

• Recommended that clear museum grade coating be applied to canvas to give the ability of cleaning the canvas as well as serves as UV protection. Some coatings allow the canvas to be cleaned with Caviwipes. Coordinate with vendor and housekeeping to make sure the substrate selected will withstand the facility cleaning protocol.

Examples of canvas wrapped installations

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Substrates, cont’d

• Traditional mat and framed

• Artwork printed on paper, matted and framed.

• Aluminum frames are nonporous and impervious to damage from harsh cleaning chemicals.

• Acrylic glazing instead of glass since acrylic is shatter resistant and durable.

• Edges must be properly sealed/taped so that liquids from cleaning agent does not seep into frame and be absorbed by the mat..

Examples of traditional mat and framed installation

• Aluminum

• Image printed on first surface (printed on top of the metal) which means the ink can be smeared by chemicals if not protected by a topcoat. See above examples of standoff and floating mount - corners to be radiused. Coordinate with vendor and housekeeping to make sure the substrate selected will withstand the facility cleaning protocol.

• Acrylic

• Printed on second surface (image printed on the back of the acrylic). Acrylic specified needs to be chemical resistant to withstand cleaning. See above examples of standoff and floating mount - corners to be radiused. Coordinate with vendor and housekeeping to make sure the substrate selected will withstand the facility cleaning protocol.

Example of floating mount

Example of standoff mount

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Macro versus Micro A great way to achieve variety in artwork is by intermingling detailed close-up images (micro) versus images photographed from a distance (macro)

Example of micro images

Example of macro images

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General guidelines for mounting

• For larger framed artwork, the top of the frame should align with the top of the door.

• The center line of the piece of artwork should sit approximately 5’ above the floor.

• The bottom of the frame should be no higher than 16” from a handrail

• Artwork to be hung every 20 linear feet of wall in patient and public spaces to include lobbies, corridors, waiting and subwaiting.

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