The walls of Nuovo San Giovanni Hospital in Scandicci are more welcoming this week thanks to the recent visit of volunteers working with the Atlanta based Foundation for Hospital Art. This is the third time the Foundation has painted at San Giovanni. General Electric Elfuns, and members of the American International League of Florence joined nine painters who had travelled from the USA to create murals and wall paintings. Artwork from the Foundation has been donated to over 800 hospitals in 166 countries.
The Florence PaintFest, as these activities are known, was the final stop on a world tour which included painting in South Korea and in Japan (with a climb of Mt. Fuji by cancer survivors, including the Foundation’s Executive Director). The Foundation was established some thirty years ago by John Feight to bring art to hospitals, thereby making them less unpleasant and more therapeutic for patients. A large body of research indicates that John’s idea of bringing inside that which is found outside the walls of the hospital is scientifically sound. One study found that “psychologically appropriate art substantially affects such patient outcomes as high blood pressure, anxiety, intake of pain medication, and length of hospital stay.” Having volunteered with the Foundation myself for some 15 years, I’d say the smiles on the faces of the patients tell the story.
A local General Electric employee said she was eager to paint with the group because paintings done in prior years had eased her nervousness and she wanted to make the walls of the same hospital more pleasant for others.
The pre-drawn murals arrive colour-coded, and include all the paints and brushes needed. Hospital patients, staff, and Foundation volunteers, as well as others, all work together to complete the paintings. Once they are dry, touch-up is done if needed, and they are presented to the hospital where the PaintFest took place or, if the paintings are being completed in a corporate or other setting, to a hospital of choice.
Dr. Andrea Veneziani, Dr. Sergio Balastri and others on the staff at San Giovanni were so taken with the ready-to-paint murals that had been prepared for painting that they persuaded John to also paint directly on the walls of the waiting room and the delivery rooms, as well as on the hallways in the Intensive Care unit.
If you would like more information on how to contribute, visit: www.hospitalart.org
