Firm’s role on the project: Art Consultant
Type of facility: Private Hospital
Number of beds: 729
Specialty services (e.g. cancer center): Women’s Services, Oncology
Project vision/goals: To create an evidence-based art collection
Prentice Women’s Hospital is a part of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and sits a block away. This is a replacement facility for the original Prentice Women’s Hospital and Maternity Center. The new facility is 1,000,000 square feet and is located near Michigan Avenue’s Miracle Mile.
Creating a collection presented its challenges since the facility would also house two oncology floors with patients entering the same public spaces as maternity patients. Great care was given to commission art on the three public floors that would be supportive to all types of patients. Themes range from Chicago landscapes and gardens, to rural Midwest imagery, to figurative work depicting the many cultures who call Chicago home. Like its parent Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Prentice also has an evidence-based art collection throughout the entire facility.
The 80 bed NICU presented a special opportunity. All of the works are commissioned works depicting the natural world. There are quilts, a wall sculpture, glass, tiles, and drawings. There is a series of delicate drawings of flowers, each with a poem. There are quilts with lullabies incorporated, several in Spanish. There is a three-dimensional wall sculpture with carved wooded birds and butterflies. The art for this unit is nurturing, enduring and supportive of families and caregivers who spend long hours and days in this high stress environment.
In total, there are over 1200 works in the collection. Prentice Women’s Hospital has been featured in a number of tours of exemplary healthcare facilities.
