The 1980s was the beginning of a period of tremendous growth in hospitals. With it came a new awareness that the vast scientific advances in medicine, though groundbreaking, were beginning to overshadow the human and spiritual needs of patients.

Early programs such as Gifts of Art began focusing on retaining personal identity, human dignity, and hope through the inclusion of art and music in public spaces intended for patients, guests, faculty, staff, and learners. As hospital arts programs spread to more hospitals and healthcare organizations, research followed, demonstrating the benefits of arts in health. Services expanded, especially those directly at the bedside of patients, but also to the entire hospital community.

By the early 2000s, many hospitals reported having some sort of arts programming. Most commonly, it was art on the walls. Less common were comprehensive programs such as Gifts of Art with its variety and breadth of available programs and services, and which had been recognized as a model program by the National Endowment of the Arts.

Today the arts are recognized for their importance in supporting human health and well-being across the lifespan by the World Health Organization. In some countries, physicians prescribe visits to museums and art and music lessons for their patients. At Michigan Medicine, we have embraced the arts as part of our culture of care and recognize its benefit to our entire community.