VCU’s Arts in Healthcare program helps patients heal through art and music.
More than 20 years ago, Arts in Healthcare began distributing art to brighten up patients’ rooms. Today, P. Muzi Branch, director, shares how the program has evolved into a multidisciplinary department that promotes healing throughout the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
“Our main goal is to use fine arts in the healing process,” he said. “Doctors perform surgery and prescribe medicine that allows patients’ bodies to heal, but sometimes, if patients are not psychologically, spiritually and emotionally together, the healing takes longer. What we try to do is use visual art, music, poetry, literary arts and even dance to stimulate or inspire patients and help them heal.”
The program hosts weekly lunchtime concerts, among other offerings, for staff, patients and visitors in the lobby of the Gateway Building, as well as music for special events at the hospital. In addition, Musicians on Call, a program funded in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, puts local musicians in patients’ rooms and clinic waiting areas to bring a sense of calm and reduce anxiety and fear.
“Because we’re hiring professional musicians, we’re partnering with Richmond’s art community,” Branch said. “When they see how their music changes patients’ attitudes as they’re going through a crisis, musicians will always come back and say, ‘This is powerful for me, as much as it was for the people I was playing for.’ I think it’s a win-win situation where the musicians get to use their craft in a healing environment and the patients get the reward of hearing professional musicians.”
S. Ross Browne, the program’s art specialist, oversees the visual arts aspect, including four galleries and the hospital’s permanent collection of more than 600 pieces by local and regional artists, valued at $1.2 million. The galleries are located in Gateway Building, North Hospital and Stony Point, as well as a sculpture case in Main Hospital. Each gallery hosts six shows annually and 20 percent of the proceeds from purchased art are donated to the hospital. Browne also provides hands-on art experiences for patients in their room and in group settings.
“We try to change the atmosphere when people come in,” Branch said. “Hospitals can be a scary place. The arts make it a welcome place that makes people feel at ease.”
Arts in Healthcare also offers individualized therapeutic programs for patients. Melissa Owens, a board-certified music therapist, works with individuals and groups particularly for patients in the brain injury and psychiatry departments, as well as the infectious disease and pediatric oncology clinics. Georgianne Ginder, health and wellness counselor, provides Jin Shin Jyutsu treatments for patients in the Dalton Oncology Clinic.
“If a patient is experiencing discomfort, pain, anxiety or boredom, doctors and nurses can request that the music therapist, art specialist or health and wellness counselor work with them one-on-one in their room,” Branch said. “They can also leave music, art kits or reading material to help the patients get through the crisis.”
In addition to serving VCU Medical Center patients, the program supports hospital staff through employee, volunteer and family art exhibits and poetry competitions.
“We have 8,000 employees here, so it’s a small city,” Branch said. “We, just like cities, put on cultural festivals and provide a little education for our staff and visitors.”
Arts in Healthcare began in 1986 when Murry DePillars, Ph.D., dean of the School of the Arts from 1976 to 1995, wanted to bridge the gap between VCU’s two campuses with a program for patients that integrated the visual arts into their treatment during hospital stays. Branch explained that as hospital in-patient stays became shorter, the program had to evolve and today it helps not only patients undergoing the healing process, but also improves the overall hospital environment and the continued treatment of patients at home.
“We know that the arts are important in our lives,” he said. “Research has proven that it can change people’s heart rate. It can change you physiologically, psychologically and emotionally. We try to create something they can take with them as a lasting memory that they experienced something inspirational and artistic at the hospital. We try to make it a different kind of experience.”
The Kip Williams Group performs in the lobby of the VCU Medical Center's Gateway Building. Photo provided by P. Muzi Branch, VCU Arts in Healthcare director.
