Media Credit: Christin Palazzolo [Click to enlarge]

Elizabeth Nolan stared at the barren walls of the University Health Center Tuesday afternoon. She sat in a chair in the lobby for most of her 35-minute wait and passed the time text messaging and reading bulletin boards.

Students like Nolan will soon have art to take in while they wait to see a doctor or nurse. Health center officials hope to improve the atmosphere by featuring student and professional artwork in the health center lobby and courtyard starting this summer.

"It definitely feels like you're in a health center," Nolan said. The junior added the atmosphere was improved after the health center remodel last year.

Art improves overall health and well-being for patients, and helps enhance the healing process, according to the Society for the Arts in Healthcare.

Gay Hanna, executive director for SAH, said artwork in health care centers helps bring the community inside medical centers.

"It helps patients, caregivers and family feel the support of the community," Hanna said. "It allows different culture into the center to express itself and make the healing environment comforting."

The health center plans to commission New York City artist Suikang Zhao through the Oregon Arts Commission's public art program. Zhao teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and has artwork displayed in public spaces around the country, including Portland's Planning Bureau building.

The OAC public art program started in 1975 in an effort to put artwork in public buildings to provide artistic enrichment for Oregon citizens and visitors, according to the group's Web site. The art commission sets aside construction funds for new or remodeled state facilities to obtain the art.

The health center has a budget of $67,000 to commission artists' work, said Anne Mattson, associate director of the health center.

More than 100 artists from the United States and Canada submitted applications last year for the opportunity to have their work on display at the health center permanently.

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