St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative has been named the 2022 recipient of the St. Tammany Commission on Cultural Affairs’ President’s Award.
Presented Oct. 20 as part of the commission’s 16th President’s Art Awards, which annually celebrate artistic achievements on the Northshore, the honor recognizes the foundation’s continued efforts to incorporate the work of local artists as part of its larger support of the healing mission of the care providers at St. Tammany Health System.
“It is an honor beyond words to see our Healing Arts Initiative recognized in this way,” St. Tammany Hospital Foundation Executive Director Nichole Suhre said. “The foundation is proud to be the steward of this nationally recognized initiative through the hard work and dedication of our Healing Arts committee. Additionally, we are deeply proud to have donors who are passionate about making the inclusion of arts in healthcare a standard at St. Tammany Health System.”
Suhre was on-hand to accept the award on behalf of the foundation, along with St. Tammany Health System President and CEO Joan Coffman; and foundation Trustee and Healing Arts Committee Chair Mary Lee.
The Healing Arts Initiative was started in 2004 with donations made by St. Tammany Parish Hospital employees for the purchase of a player piano for the hospital lobby, aquariums for the hospital’s Pediatric Unit and Cordes Outpatient Pavilion, “Healing Ceiling tiles” in MRI and CT rooms, as well as a restful south Louisiana landscape mural in the Radiology Department.
Since then, the initiative has grown to encompass a wide-ranging collection of works created by local visual artists – from paintings to sculptures to photographs and more – that are on display at St. Tammany Health System facilities across western St. Tammany Parish, as well as the inclusion of architectural elements and music therapy that all work together to create a healing environment for patients, guests and staff.
Learn more about St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative at sthfoundation.org/HealingArts, and find a full list of 2022 President’s Arts Award recipients at www.stpgov.org/cca.