NYC Health + Hospitals Announces that Nearly 850 of its Artworks are Featured on the Bloomberg Connects App
NYC Health + Hospitals is the first healthcare organization on Bloomberg Connects, which features more than 350 cultural organizations, including many of the world’s major museums Nearly 850 artworks across the health system now have informational wall text with a QR code leading to additional material on Bloomberg Connects
May 02, 2024
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that nearly 850 works of art in its collection are available to view worldwide on the free Bloomberg Connects app. The NYC Health + Hospitals guide includes artwork by nearly 400 artists and can be accessed by searching the artist’s last name, the location of the art, or in a featured story. In addition, nearly 850 artworks across the health system’s facilities now have informational wall text and a QR code leading to additional material on Bloomberg Connects. NYC Health + Hospitals is the first healthcare organization on Bloomberg Connects, which features more than 350 cultural organizations, including many of the world’s major museums. The Arts in Medicine department at NYC Health + Hospitals is made possible in part with the generous support of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.
“We know from decades of research that the arts have an important role to play in reducing stress, helping individuals in their healing process, and in building healthier communities.” said Laurie Tisch, founder and president of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. “The Bloomberg Connects app is another important way for people inside and outside NYC Health + Hospitals to have access to its extraordinary collection of artworks. We are proud to have helped make this and other arts programming possible.”
“The Arts in Medicine department at NYC Health + Hospitals is grateful to the Bloomberg Connects platform for helping to illuminate the historical significance and contribution the visual collection has on public health,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Assistant Vice President of Arts in Medicine Larissa Trinder. “The artwork, dating back to the 1930’s, is used by the health system to contribute to healing environments using intentional design principles and is also used in therapeutic milieu’s with patients. In addition, the collection plays an essential role in our programs designed for staff wellness. Being the first healthcare system on the platform demonstrates the growing awareness of the contribution the arts have on our overall health, a promising step in the adoption of the arts as standard treatment.”
“When Mayor Koch signed the Percent for Art law in 1982, the Art Commission and NYC Health + Hospitals were able to accelerate the rescue and conservation of an amazing collection from the WPA’s heyday. So many of the works were either not maintained or stashed away – but with Mayor Koch’s leadership, we were able to bring them back to life, which was a highlight of my time at the Arts Commission early in my career. The collection is an enormous resource for New York City, and the art can provide a sense of healing that will benefit everyone who enters the hospitals,” said Patricia E. Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies. “As mayor, Mike Bloomberg shared Mayor Koch’s support for public art, and now as a philanthropist, he’s continuing to share the collection through our Bloomberg Connects app, so everyone can discover and enjoy it.”
Highlights of the NYC Health + Hospitals guide on Bloomberg Connects include:
- Murals from the 1930s commissioned through the Works Progress Administration
- Keith Haring murals, both in color and in black and white
- Photos of Black New Yorkers from the 1920s and 1930s by James van der Zee
- A mural by contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney and RxArt (Fun #1, 2022)
- Works by Derrick Adams at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
- Black and white photos by landscape photographer Ansel Adams
- Multiple collages and a significant mural, Cityscape, by Romare Bearden
- Collage by David Hammons
- Lithographs by sculptor Alexander Calder
- A mosaic by Abstract Expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler (North Central Bronx Mosaic, 1973)
- Lithographs by Abstract Expressionist painter Lee Krasner
- A print by photographer Herb Ritts (James Miller, Special Olympics Athlete from “Sport” Portfolio, 1996)
- A silkscreen by pop artist Andy Warhol (Flowers 69, from Flowers Portfolio, 1974)
The art collection aims to create a calming atmosphere for patients and their families and supportive, healing places for staff. Observing a work of art and creating art with others has proven physiological outcomes. Lowering our cortisol levels lowers stress. It helps process emotions, foster empathy, and encourage greater connectedness.
The NYC Health + Hospitals Art Collection dates back to the 1930s, when the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project hired artists to create works for government buildings. Over the years, New York City’s public health care system commissioned many additional murals to adorn its facilities. Today, NYC Health + Hospitals continues its legacy of adding healing walls through the Arts in Medicine Community Mural Project, in which artists collaborate with staff, patients, families and community members.
In addition to managing the health system’s art collection, the Arts in Medicine department presents a diverse array of arts programming, including: live concerts at healthcare facilities through the Music for the Soul Concert series; art observation and discussion for staff through HHArt of Medicine; songwriting with professional musicians for parents through the Lullaby Project; and an active Artists in Residence program. A full overview of the Arts in Medicine department is available here.
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MEDIA CONTACT: PressOffice@nychhc.org
About NYC Health + Hospitals’ Arts in Medicine Department
The Arts in Medicine department at NYC Health + Hospitals seeks to foster the emotional well-being and promote healing and wellness for all patients and their families, employees, and the greater community by utilizing the arts, including literary, visual, and performing arts throughout the health care system. In addition to managing the system’s significant visual arts collection, the Arts in Medicine department encourages evidenced based practices and provides technical assistance to all of the system’s health care facilities and clinics. This is accomplished by combining artistic innovation and education into a comprehensive health care continuum that supports the healing benefits of the arts. For more information, visit NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine.
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund is a New York City-based foundation that aims to improve access and opportunity for all New Yorkers and foster healthy and vibrant communities. In 2018, the Illumination Fund launched Arts in Health, a multi-year initiative to support organizations utilizing the arts as a tool for healing and building understanding in communities across New York City. The initiative’s areas of focus are stigma, trauma and aging-related diseases as well as supporting organizations addressing mental health in communities disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019 the Illumination Fund supported the creation of NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine department, expanding programs serving health care staff, patients, and communities in sites across the City. For more information, visit www.lmtif.org or follow @LMTischFund on Twitter.