TransCultural Exchange International Conference

Tamar Tembeck is presenting a paper on “Public Art in Hospitals” in a panel on “Artists and Medicine” at the 2018 edition of the TransCultural Exchange International Conference, February 22-24, 2018, in Quebec City.

Abstract: With the recent inauguration of two new superhospitals in Montreal (McGill University Healthcare Centre in 2015 and Phase II of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal in 2017), a significant concentration of Quebec’s public art is now in our healthcare establishments. Thanks to a provincial regulation requiring that artworks be commissioned for major new public buildings and refurbishment projects, these two superhospitals boast a total of 25 new works by Quebec artists, including a sound installation as well as a process-based work. Referencing examples of public hospital art from Europe and North America over the past century, this presentation will address current practices as well as changing expectations towards public art in hospitals.