New McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital bridges health and art

An unforeseen partnership brought art to the new McLaren Hospital. 

The Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center curated three permanent art installations for the hospital, with two sculptures and one canvas. The works were purchased by the McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation for the hospital that opened on Collins Road on March 6.

Barb Whitney, the art gallery’s executive director, said talks of a partnership between the two organizations began before the pandemic hit. Whitney turned to Katrina Daniels, the exhibition and gallery sales director, to curate the collection. 

“We wanted to make sure that, through the art selection, we were helping to facilitate the goals of McLaren, their mission and the goals of the designer,” Daniels said. “McLaren wanted work that would be beautiful, aesthetically pleasing and would also be something that would add to a healing space.”

Daniels said much of the hospital’s design revolves around natural light, clean lines and lots of blue tones. The pieces she selected had to fit into that aesthetic, as well as fit the large scale of the open spaces the hospital had in mind — the lobby, cafeteria and courtyard. 

She pulled together a presentation of various artists who she thought may be good for the project. The presentation was then submitted to McLaren.

Walking into the spacious main lobby, under the staircase, visitors from outside and inside the hospital can see Brighton resident Kelly O’Neill’s “Peace.” The custom-made sculpture is made from powder-coated steel and glass. Daniels said the colors in the glass match the cool tones of McLaren’s company.

“I knew that she had both the interest and the ability to create a custom piece,” Daniels said of O’Neill. “She works in mixed media, where she is a welder and a sculptor and brings in glass and other items into her work.”

Once O’Neill was accepted as an artist for the project, she and Daniels did a site visit. They met with the designers in person to talk through the vision for O’Neill’s piece. The sculpture is under the main staircase and also behind a window, so O’Neill took into consideration the many perspectives her piece would have. 

“Sunset Over the Big Lake,” located in the cafeteria, was painted by Mark Mehaffey. An Empire resident, much of his art reflects life Up North. For this space, Daniels said she wanted something “beautiful and comforting” for cafeteria-goers to appreciate while grabbing a bite or taking a moment for themselves. Daniels felt Mehaffey’s acrylic canvas piece does just that.

“He has the most beautiful way of capturing sunsets and landscapes of Northern Michigan, specifically, which I think a lot of us in this area have very fond memories of,” Daniels said.

The third curated piece is a sculpture in the hospital’s courtyard, titled “Flyers.” Williamston resident Mark Chatterley had already made the ceramic sculpture, but Daniels felt that it would be a perfect fit for the courtyard. Chatterley’s sculpture was the first one selected by the McLaren foundation. The sculpture features three human-like figures flying in the same direction.

“We have droves of research that helps people understand data around the value of art in people’s lives,” Whitney said. “It has the opportunity to offer patients a moment of respite, to lift their spirits and literally help them heal. We’re honored to have the opportunity to bring Michigan art into that space.”

Whitney added that the partnership between the McLaren foundation and art gallery was something that allowed Michigan artists to share their passion, while also contributing to a “beautiful change for healing and wellness” for hospital patients and visitors. 

Lynn Griffor’s two roles came together during the process of collecting artwork for the hospital. She is the chief experience officer for the hospital, and she serves as the foundation’s vice president.

“The entire design of this facility is meant to bring some calm and peace to people in, typically, pretty stressful situations,” Griffor said. “You walk in here and there’s a level of stress to begin with. We wanted the physical space to bring some peace and comfort to people that are here.” 

Griffor said she felt good about the hospital leadership’s commitment to the art. With the foundation, which she described as the hospital’s philanthropic arm, Griffor raised the funds that went toward purchasing the art from the gallery. She said the foundation provided $10 million for the new hospital campus.

Aside from what the art gallery curated, the foundation independently selected additional art pieces for the hospital. Two pieces by DeWitt artist Jason Keusch can be found in the main lobby — one in the elevator lobby appropriately titled “This Way to the Elevator.” Two acrylic pieces by Pam Harden, an East Lansing resident, are in the Outpatient Care Center. 

Griffor said that nature is a common theme for a lot of the other art throughout the hospital, especially the living green wall in the cancer center atrium. The wall spans a few floors tall and is made up of different grasses and mosses. 

“We wanted to bring the outside in,” Griffor said. “While people are here within these walls, they don’t want to feel that they’re in a clinical, sterile setting.”

Daniels expressed a similar sentiment, adding that hospitals are “inherently sterile.” She said McLaren has done a great job of making the space “calming and warm.” 

“Incorporating art and nature in a way that they have has really offered opportunities for people to reflect and have moments of calm, and maybe even moments of enjoyment,” Daniels said.