Art in public places helps feed people's imagination and creativity. Surprisingly, exhibitions in what are usually drab hospitals can equally serve as a show space, writes Regina Daly
Fancy going to an art exhibition... in Mayo General Hospital? It may not be everyone's cup of tea in a place so tied up in illness but hospital foyers and corridors are proving to be surprisingly popular show spaces.
The Arts Group of Mayo General Hospital recently launched an exciting exhibition of paintings in association with Kenny's Gallery, Galway, entitled West, Northwest.
It's the committee's latest in a series of exhibitions in the new hospital's ultra-modern bright and spacious interior.
Many people are stopping in their tracks, partly because they don't expect to see the artwork in that setting and because they like what they see, says Tom Kenny of Kenny's Gallery who organised and mounted the artwork.
Kenny was approached by Dr Luke O'Donnell and Fr Pat O'Brien of the hospital's arts committee more than a year ago to work on an exhibition of framed poems and poets which proved to be very popular. That show has since been moved to the hospital wards to make way for this new exhibition which opened shortly before Christmas.
West, Northwest is an eclectic mix of paintings by distinguished artists and emerging new talent, and is representative of what's on show in the Kenny gallery in Galway.
"My brief from the committee was quite specific. I was not to dilute the work. It was not to be of therapeutic value, in anyway patronising, so to speak, and should be art for artsake," says Kenny.
"The aim was to liven up the place, make the corridors more user-friendly and less clinical-looking for patients and staff, and to interact with those who work there and those who visit. It was to be a serious exhibition but not with serious intent."
The title indicates the direction the show was heading; from west to northwest. It has nothing to do with the artists' work and does not have any one theme.
The artists are from Ireland, the US and Germany and the collection includes landscapes, still-life and figure drawings in a range of media including oils, acrylics, watercolours and etchings. Some of the artists' styles are abstract while others are described as "academic". Several of the paintings were hanging in Kenny's Galway while others were on route to the gallery.
Established Irish artists include Clare Cryan (founder of the Blue Door Studio in Ballsbridge, Dublin), Manus Walsh, John McNulty, Malcom Bennett and George Callaghan. The international line-up includes Germany's Gertrude Degenhardt who draws inspiration from the west of Ireland and American painter Phyllis Del Vecchio who lives in Galway. Other works are by Miriam Cronin, Jerry Marjoram, Michael Flaherty, Charlotte Kelly, Linda Keohane and Rosie McGurran.
"The artists themselves were very happy to be a part of the hospital exhibition. They didn't just see it as a Christian or charitable endeavour but real exposure they mightn't have had before," says Kenny.
"They felt their work would be seen by people who would not normally have gone to exhibitions, people who don't have the time and who normally pass by in a hurry. In a hospital setting, people have more time to stop and look."
Tom Kenny was himself a patient some 18 months ago. He had a triple bypass operation in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin and while there he was staggered at the quality of art works in that hospital; most of them donated by patients.
"We've all had a hospital experience, including many of the artists. Most people going to hospital, the mood isn't great. For many, you're walking up and down a corridor looking at awful coloured tiles wondering why in the name of God don't they ever do anything to brighten up the place.
He felt he could contribute in some way, by helping to decorate wards and corridors with art works. "It gives me great pleasure, especially when I see people stopping in their tracks."
What about the commercial value in terms of sales from the show? "We'd no idea what the exhibition would achieve," adds Kenny, "but there have been some sales.
"The show was, in a sense, an opportunity for us to say thank you to people who work in the medical field and the fact that there have been sales is an added bonus.
"If the arts committee asks us to go again, we'll do it happily," he adds.
West, Northwest will be on show in Mayo General Hospital until the end of this month. Another exhibition will follow in April.
Kenny's meanwhile has plans to host an exhibition in University College Hospital Galway later this year.
See also www.kennys.ie