St George Hospital Redevelopment

Arts and Culture Strategy

The Arts and Culture Strategy for the St George Hospital Redevelopment was formulated to provide a unique and beautiful interior environment, creating a new paradigm for public hospitals by discarding the outdated clinical model. Our goal was twofold: to provide a welcoming and inspirational space for visitors and staff from our multi-faceted community and to create a place where patients and family members can escape their anxiety momentarily. Dedicated artists, who excel in their respective fields, contributed their unique vision to this exciting project. I feel privileged to have worked with such wonderful Arts Committee and project team members and I would like to thank the team at Health Infrastructure for putting Arts and Health firmly on the public agenda.

The Process

The Arts Committee was formed by hospital staff and community members then a staff survey was used to determine important aspects of an Arts Program. Local research was undertaken to ensure the region’s main features were reflected in the artworks and programs.

The Projects

• The Atrium – Following her recent successful commissions in Sydney and China, Lindy Lee was invited to undertake the design of a 15m suspended sculpture evoking the St George dragon iconography and reflecting both Eastern and Western cultural traditions.

• The Entry – Megan Cope, an inspiring young artist of Aboriginal descent, was commissioned to work with artists from the local Kurranulla Aboriginal Corporation to produce a beautiful and meaningful community artwork.

• The History Walk – The ground floor link corridor, connecting the hospital’s old sections with the new ASB, has been transformed into an informative walk through history combining photos highlighting the past and present with images taken by Shoufay Derz, a professional photographer and teacher at St George TAFE.

• The Lift Lobbies – Each lift lobby has been turned into a visionary reflection of the St George region by artists Oliver Watts, Gabrielle Jones, Nicole Kelly, Shoufay Derz, Deanna Schreiber and Annette Webb.

• A local photography competition was organised in collaboration with Moran Art Prizes with the finalists’ images on display throughout the hospital.

• A ‘Happy Face’ community ‘selfie’ style photography project, led by Shoufay Derz, resulted in a colourful display highlighting the staff and patients’ playful side.

• The clinical area corridors have come to life with full wall vinyls displaying nature at its best, thanks to images taken by Shoufay Derz, Mike Edmondson and Steve Turner.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with these gifted artists to create a more welcoming and enjoyable hospital experience"

STAR - Hornsby Kurringai Hospital

Nature's art of healing is the Star at Hornsby Kurringai Hospital

The state of the art STAR (Surgical, Theatres, Anaesthetic and Recovery services) building will be the new heart of the reborn Hornsby Kurringai Hospital. The STAR's exciting art collection, managed form inception by Karen Burton of KBArt, was revealed at the August, 2015 opening.

The overarching theme for the Hornsby Kuringai STAR Artwork Project as a whole is regeneration - the regrowth and renewal of the hospital, and of the quality of health services delivered for the surrounding community, and since regeneration, renewal and regrowth are an integrated part of the life cycle of every natural environment, the theme of nature is an ideal choice for the inspiration for the artworks featured in the new STAR building. All the more so since art based on nature can be described as therapeutic in its own right, since contact with nature is widely acknowledged to have a calming and healing properties

The art collection itself draws on the natural power and beauty of the Hornsby Kurringai area, since more than 50% of the region is made up of reserves and National Parks that host some of the largest surviving bush enclaves in the Sydney area. It is also an area of immense significance to our Aboriginal fellow Australians, since there are more than 800 significant art and cultural sites of the Gadigal people preserved in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park alone.

To bring this concept to life, Karen Burton invited eight established Australian artists, each accomplished in their own fields, to approach the natural theme with their unique vision.  The invited artists - Oliver Watts, Jade Oakley, Judy Holding, Marguerite Derricourt, Gabrielle Jones, Lucy Carroll Frances Feasey and   indigenous photographer Wayne Quillium - were asked to interpret the natural beauty of the area in their art with the objectives of offsetting the clinical ambiance   of a hospital with reassuring natural images which were also stimulating and interesting.

One other unique facet of the project is the creative contribution made by Ku-ring-gai Hospital's own staff, who added their visual talents to that of the commissioned artists through a photographic competition mentored by commissioned artist Wayne Quilliam who participated in a workshop with entrants at the start of the project. The 12 winning staff photographs, together with the paintings and photographs created by our commissioned artists, will be on permanent display in public areas throughout the STAR building.