DISTINCTIVE ART SOURCE
EBD Goal
The goal of the art program was to respect and visually reflect modernday life as an EBCI member while celebrating the unique Cherokee culture through original, multimedia artwork created by tribal members.
Overview
Cherokee Indian Hospital was planned, constructed, and funded by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and follows their “It Belongs to You” design directive. “We believe that we can serve our community better than anyone else and we are committed to that goal,” Cherokee Indian Hospital CEO Casey Cooper said. “We believe that the new building will help us foster an environment of wellness, so our patients don’t just come to us when they are sick, they come to us as friends and partners in wellness.”
Challenge
The original, multimedia Cherokee art now found throughout the hospital supports, honors, and celebrates modern EBCI life and culture.
The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority partnered with Design Strategies LLC and Distinctive Art Source (DAS) to create a hospital designed to meet the specific needs and aesthetics of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. The artistic challenge was to continue the intentional design direction, using local art to bring the Great Smokey Mountains into the interior of the building while reflecting Cherokee history and contemporary life in a manner that celebrates native legends, language, and lore of the rich history belonging to the EBCI. The art program tells the story of the EBCI through the eyes and hands of its enrolled members and depicts the joy that defines modern EBCI life while also featuring works by non-enrolled members of the community since, for the first time in history, this hospital will serve both.
Solution
The evidence-based design process began with a visioning session within the EBCI community, including tribal elders, to define the art goals of visualizing history and culture in traditional and contemporary art forms. From there, we researched EBCI cultural history informing the need for proximity to nature while indoors, as well as the need for artful representation of traditional and contemporary EBCI art forms. Evidence shows that providing contact with nature and positive distractions can help decrease patient and family stress. With this direction, we created concepts for the art program that all visual elements should reflect culture and joy while celebrating EBCI history.
The art program also involved the community by personally inviting artists to participate. By creating large scale nature photography combined with authentic EBCI artwork, DAS hypothesized that reluctant tribal members would feel more comfortable within the space and more readily seek wellness in a space that induces pride in their own heritage. DAS commissioned EBCI artists, monitored their progress, and timed completion of art elements to coincide with construction schedules to not disturb or delay the project. The program included multimedia dimensional artwork of glass etching, wood carving, quilts, acrylics on canvas, basketry, beadwork, and wall weavings.
Results
The art program allows visitors to sit among the trees or walk along the flowing river while travelling through the concourse from clinic spaces to the dining area. The community art project involved 86 12x12 canvases, each featuring one syllabary symbol. The syllabary wall reiterates a source of community and cultural pride, leading to a strong focus on teaching the Cherokee language to the youth through the release of the Cherokee Syllabary app.
After a year in operation, Cooper says the building is exceeding expectations. “With such strong community and cultural connections, there is about a 20% increase in patient visits: the clinic had 2,311 visits from May 1 to July 29 in 2015 and 2,964 patient visits from the same period in 2016,” says Cooper. “And not only are more patients making appointments, they’re keeping them as well,” states Joyce Biberica, Dental Director at Cherokee Indian Hospital.