Northshore artists leave mark on new cancer center

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Thursday, June 24, 2021

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Northshore artists leave mark on new cancer center

Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

Among the works of art installed in the new St. Tammany Cancer Center, a campus of Ochsner Medical, was a piece by local artist Bernard Mattox that was so big it wouldn’t fit in the elevator at the new cancer center. (Photo by Norma Richard / St. Tammany Hospital Foundation)

“Wait until you see what’s going here,” Norma Richard said, sweeping her arm in the direction of a large, empty wall.

That’s how she thinks. Where most see vacant space, Richard sees possibilities – which is exactly why St. Tammany Foundation Executive Director Nicole Suhre recruited her committee to spearhead the selection, acquisition and installation of artwork for the newly completed St. Tammany Cancer Center, a campus of Ochsner Medical Center, as part of the foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative.

In theory, it might sound like a fun project, especially for someone as passionate about the arts as Richard is. But in practice, there were extenuating circumstances.

“When they asked us, I said, ‘OK, well, how much time do we have?’” Richard remembered. “And Nicole said, ‘Well, that’s the catch.’”

In all, Richard and other members of the foundation’s Healing Arts Committee -- including Carlos Sanchez and Sarah Bonnett, who Richard said were key to the effort -- would have to locate, acquire and install nearly two dozen pieces of original artwork from local artists in just seven weeks.

The result was both a marathon and a sprint from which Richard and her fellow committee members are still catching their breath.

“Everything in the front of the house is original pieces, original artwork from local artists,” Richard said. “And that was the goal. We wanted our local, Northshore artists to shine in this modern, 75,000-square-foot building.

“The problem was, who do we call that we know who has an inventory that fits the beautiful, contemporary flow of this building?” she added. “That was the hard part, finding artists whose work was a good fit.”

The goal was to make St. Tammany proud, make the arts community in St. Tammany proud. They gave us an opportunity to shine."

Norma Richard, St. Tammany Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees member

For Richard, who’s been a key part of the Healing Arts Initiative since joining the foundation’s Board of Trustees almost five years ago, that meant shaking trees, beating bushes and burning up her mobile phone, tapping into the relationships she’s nurtured over the years throughout the Northshore art community.

Finding the art was just the first step. There was also getting it approved by all the stakeholders in the cancer center, negotiating for price and then installing 17 original pieces by 14 local artists all in one day.

“It was a whirlwind,” she said.

And they’re not done. Five more commissioned pieces are still on the way. Plaques have yet to be installed identifying each work. They’ve also got a couple of surprises in the works – like what’s destined to adorn that large, empty wall.

Still, Richard is pleased with what she and her team have been able to put together.

“On ribbon-cutting day, we were just so proud,” she said. “The goal was to make St. Tammany proud, make the arts community in St. Tammany proud. They gave us an opportunity to shine.”

Does she think they were successful?

To answer, Richard tells the story of a couple she saw in the cancer center recently. He was an older man, and he was pushing the wheelchair of a woman, presumably his wife. Passing a piece of recently installed art, she asked him to stop. They examined it together and talked for a short time before moving on.

“When they got closer,” Richard said, “I heard her say, ‘Let’s go over here. I want to see the art over here.”

She teared up a little thinking about it, then added:

“That’s what it’s all about.”


Learn more about St. Tammany Hospital Foundation, including ways you can make a difference in cancer care on the Northshore, at STHfoundation.org.


A piece by Northshore artist Bernard Mattox hangs in a third-floor waiting area of the new cancer center (Photo by Tim San Fillippo / STHS)

A handful of pieces from the old St. Tammany Cancer Center, such as this triptych by Gretchen Armbruster that once hung in the infusion suite, now reside in the new cancer center.  (Photo by Norma Richard / St. Tammany Hospital Foundation)

A painting by Marianne Rodriguez gets an adjustment as it is installed at the new St. Tammany Cancer Center, a campus of Ochsner Medical Center. In all, nearly two dozen original works of art from Northshore artists were acquired to hang in the cancer center as part of St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative.  (Photo by Norma Richard / St. Tammany Hospital Foundation)

St. Tammany Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees member Mary Lee, who also chairs the foundation’s Healing Arts Committee, makes sure everything is just right during installation of a painting by artist Mary Helen Seago. (Photo by Norma Richard / St. Tammany Hospital Foundation)

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