Creative Collaboration
From a dragon's scales created with hundreds of drawn and written sentiments to a 30-foot art piece made with entirely with reused objects, collaborative art projects are the heart of community art.
The scrolls in the art piece above are made up of writings and drawings by faculty, staff, and learners to honor their grief as a part of the inaugural Grief Awareness Week at Michigan Medicine. U-M Associate Professor Anne Mondro designed and created the stitched and beaded tapestry, using the scrolls to form the border.
The Radiance Tapestry is located on Floor 2 of the University Hospital, outside the office of Decedent Affairs, UH 2C223, near the Café.
Dragons represent courage and vitality. The scales of this dragon were created with the drawn and written wishes, hopes, and dreams of 1,700 faculty, staff, patients, guests, and learners. Gifts of Art brought this project together with the help of participants from across the Michigan Medicine community, artist Katy Bergman Cassell, and Associate Professor Anne Mondro of the Penny M. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
The dragon is now a permanent art piece in the University Hospital on Floor 1 near the Main Lobby, symbolizing strength and new beginnings.
For this project, Gifts of Art collected stories and mementos from Michigan Medicine faculty, staff, and learners and shared them as inspiration for community and university faculty and student artists. Made entirely with reused objects and materials, this 30 ft. long art piece honors environmental stewardship and draws in countless viewers with its charms and stories.
This piece is on display in the University Hospital main corridor on Floor 1.
This collection of quilts features plants and animals that have properties used to treat cancer.
This collection is on display on patient floors.
For this project, Gifts of Art shared 3D relief multimedia pieces by Liz Whitney Quisgard with Fiber Artists@Loose Ends fiber artists. Both the original pieces by Quisgard and the quilts that were inspired by them are on display together.
This collection is in the University Hospital South corridor near the employee entrance on Floor 2.
Designed by Gifts of Art artists-in-residence, the M-Bot mural was completed as a group project with members of the Michigan Medicine community as part of Patient Experience Week 2018. It was made possible through a partnership with the Michigan Medicine Office of Patient Experience. These robots are programmed to bring you and others joy, love, bravery and inspiration.
This piece is on display in University Hospital South on Floor 2, near Mott Community Relations, F2519.
This exhibition of 16 vibrant art quilts and the scientific photomicrographs that inspired them is a fascinating combination of art and science. Also included in the exhibit are supporting artistic and scientific statements. The exhibition, created by Gifts of Art with artwork by Fiber Artists @ Loose Ends, scientific work by U-M Center for Organogenesis, and in partnership with the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, traveled to the University of Chicago Medical Center and the National Institute of Health, among others.
Now in the permanent art collection of Michigan Medicine, it is located on Floor 2 in the corridor between University Hospital South and C.S. Mott Children's and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital, along the orange curved wall.
Gifts of Art has participated in Grief Awareness Month, Honoring Life and Loss: Grief Awareness for Faculty and Staff, since it's beginning in 2013.
Now as a part of the tradition, twice a year Gifts of Art artists-in-residence, with creative volunteers and participants across the hospital community, decorate windows in the University Hospital with beautiful designs and comforting words.
Staff, guests and patients are invited to pause and honor the impact of grief and loss from the past year and build resilience for moving forward.
The Grief Windows are located in the University Hospital on the 2nd Floor outside the Café in May and December.
Special art workshops are available for the entire Michigan Medicine community. See our events listing to find out about workshops and other events.
