WARDS LIT UP WITH CAMPUS ART
WORKS BY WEXFORD CAMPUS ART STUDENTS ARE BRIGHTENING UP THE HOSPITAL – AND THERE’S PLENTY OF TIME TO SEE THEM
WEXFORD CAMPUS School of Art and Design is continuing its collaboration with Wexford General Hospital in a new exhibition of artworks by first year honours degree students, entitled Circular Worlds, Near and Distant Orbits, which opened last week.
The new works which are displayed in the emergency department, corridors and consultation rooms at the hospital represent a variety of techniques with a predominant theme being the circle.
‘ The circle developed into eclipses and the solar system and onto distant imaginary landscapes where we imagined and created protectors with healing energies,’ said Oliver Comerford, course director in art at Wexford Campus who congratulated the students on their confidence and ambition in creating the works of art. The exhibition will continue until the end of this year.
The featured artists include Michel Cushen, Eoghan Wright, Gavin Rossiter, Megan Walsh, Colm McDonald, Danny Byrne, Sheena Hanley, Padraig Sinnott, Jennifer Lyons, Ciaran O’Brien, Darragh Bierney, Shane Conway, Saoirse Daly, TJ Ferguson, Martin Murphy, Ryan Byrne, Adam Dempsey, Kyle Clancy, Shane Boylan, Aneta Marchwinska, Seán Allen, Sonya Weston, Claudia Roche and Theresa Nolan.
Consultant A&E manager Dr Paul Kelly said that when the project began in 2014, it was a huge change to have a wonderful collection of art on the walls.
‘It is good for patients and staff and patients’ relatives,’ he said, adding that if people are waiting a long period in a room with nothing on the walls, there is no pleasantness about it and studies have show that agression, noise, agitation and anxiety levels rise. Art plays an important part in reducing that anxiety.
‘It’s wonderful what you have created and on behalf of Wexford General Hospital I would like to thank you very much,’ he told the students.
Edelle Nolan, arts and health officer for Wexford General Hospital, St Luke’s in Kilkenny and Cork University Hospital, said everyone in the hospital is hugely aware of the work because they pass by it every day: ‘We are fortunate to have an exemplary art degree course based in Wexford which has an impact on the town and wider community. I would like to thank the 25 students who have kindly loaned us their art work. The standard is incredible for first years.’
She also noted: ‘ The duty of care in a hospital is not just about the medicine, it’s the whole atmosphere.’