
In selecting artwork for the permanent collection of the Martha Jefferson
Outpatient Care Center, we took care to reflect the MJH community.
We have built a collection that is rich in imagery and
texture. The artwork is
designed to provide a momentary escape for patients, a
diversion for visitors
and engage the interest of staff. We have concentrated on images that explore
rural
and urban Charlottesville and figurative works of art that emphasize
creativity;
painting, gardening, music, calligraphy, children at play.
The
arts and medicine: these are two
human callings that belong together
and our challenge is to
rediscover the ways in which they
can most effectively be brought together again.
If
you go back in ancient times, the arts in healthcare, arts and medicine, are
intricately related. I think one
of the great opportunities we have
right now in America is to connect art its strengths, its potentials, its
possibilities with the inevitable journey of human life.
Dana
Gioia, Chairman National Endowment for the Arts
March 19, 2003