[ABC Riverina]
If you're staying in hospital, it can be a pretty tough experience. But news that the new Griffith based hospital is investing in artworks to brighten things up. And even better, they're being created by local artists. Bridget Urine is New South Wales Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director. Good morning.
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Good morning. Thank you for having me.
[ABC Riverina]
Can I just start by saying what a great gig to have.
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
I shouldn't gloat, but I probably have one of the best jobs in New South Wales Health. I think it's a deeply, deeply rewarding experience to work with so many talented staff and amazing patients and community groups.
[ABC Riverina]
And don't you think it's satisfactory the way we are becoming more aware of the importance of the visual amenity of the places that we have to be in?
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Very much so. And I think what's wonderful about the arts program and Health Infrastructure is commitment to that. It's not just about the aesthetic experience, which of course I do hope is pleasant, however, it's how we and communities are part of that experience from its creation through to its completion, so that it really does create those unique and distinct identities.
It's not just a cookie cutter. What you get in Griffith, will not be the same as you get in Sydney. It's very bespoke to the communities they're seeking to serve and reflect.
[ABC Riverina]
And I think that's really important that people feel invested in their local health service. They feel like they can identify with them.
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Very much so. And we do that across a number of different initiatives. And Griffith is very much cantered around its arts integration strategy and the broader design approach as well of course. It’s ensuring the different community voices are reflected and that younger people or older person or multicultural voices or First Nations voices. There really are multiple ways in which the community can be reflected in this new service.
[ABC Riverina]
Now, who has been selected to create these pieces of art?
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Yeah. Well, we're very, very excited to be launching this week. The first of two commissions, that are going to be a part of the redevelopment in the Emergency Department.
We've commissioned Elijah Ingram, a proud Wiradjuri man and multicultural Riverina based artist Greg Carosi to work together to create a really colourful artwork within the Emergency Department arrival area and also where people will wait, hopefully for a short period of time.
And that waiting experience and that sense of arrival to really reflect that multicultural, and culturally diverse community that Griffith is so renowned for.
[ABC Riverina]
So, what was the process like in making that selection? I mean, how many artists, what sort of artist did you have in your in your purview there?
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Well, it's the same also applies to the second art commission that was awarded to Caroline Williams, it was for community courtyard and community land.
So we went through a rigorous process, and we've committed a whole way through in the first instance, we appointed and ran for best creative team – the Cab Factory. You may be familiar with their work in that area, and they engaged extensively with multiple different groups across Griffith. I think that was really exciting and that was also supported by the project's Arts Working Group.
That comprises representatives from the local health districts, of course, Griffith Regional Art Gallery and the local community, and Health Infrastructure as well, and with the Griffith Aboriginal Community Working Party and the Multicultural Council of Griffith.
So, these different voices have informed what those briefs were, that the Cab Factory developed. That then went through a process of open expression of interest to artists working in or having a relationship to Griffith, with a geographical boundary with the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.
And we were so thrilled with the responses that we got and just how ecstatic we were when Elijah and Greg were nominated for that body of work, given their close ties to the Riverina and Carolyn Williams being Griffith based, herself. We’re just absolutely thrilled that we would attract such a strong response from artists in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District area and those that could really shape what that arrival point at that new hospital will be.
Really, really dynamic use of colour by all three artists. And that sense of arrival will be substantively improved by, you know, really feeling like a friendly, welcoming environment. Not just the clinical environment.
[ABC Riverina]
And that's really important, isn't it? I mean, in health, you're treating the physical person, but there's also the impact of how they're feeling in themselves in that space – isn’t there?
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Correct, and that can be different for staff as well as patients, you know, families and or visitors.
I think we've all experienced, you know, that cradle to grave context of sometimes we're absolutely thrilled because we just have a new baby and there'll be artworks that will respond to the joyousness of that euphoric state to then also, when you're grieving for somebody or you're caring for someone over an extended period of time, the joyous nature in which these artists work and the experiences of their artworks in these really public spaces, supported, of course, by other initiatives that we're doing in clinical spaces, really do provide a friendly environment to seek and receive the highest quality care.
And I think ultimately the artworks, beautiful as they may be, of course, they really do reflect Griffith's strong sense of community.
[ABC Riverina]
Yeah. Now the hospital is still a few years away from opening, so these artists are going to have a bit of leisure to take good time to get this work in place.
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Well, I wouldn't say the artists we're working with a leisurely state, there are so many processes to get this into the fabric of the building. It's not like they can paint a canvas in their studio today, and then it gets stuck up on the wall. These are actually integrated within the fabric of the building.
[ABC Riverina]
So, there is a bit of pressure on them to get these produced.
[Bridgette Urine, Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director]
Construction is underway of course. Completion is due for 2025, but the artists now go through a process of detailed design and engagement with various community groups. To ensure that those the stories and the themes that are in those artworks, carry through.
And then they've got to integrate the, you know, at a basic level in an artwork as a concept drawing - then to how it can be integrated into the fabric of the building.
So, in the glass or in the wall and the different textures, and particularly for the emergency space, that has to withstand the elements as well.
[ABC Riverina]
And that’s Bridgette Urine, who's New South Wales Health Infrastructure Arts Program Director. And like I said to her, what a brilliant job to have.
