Client: Kaiser Permanente

Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States

Completion date: 2014

Project Team

Artist

Anne Moran & Robert Brown

Moran/Brown Studio

Art Consultant

Jane Thompson

J. D. Thompson & Associates

Architect

SmithGroupJJR

Overview

Moran/Brown was commissioned to create a focal artwork for Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. We created a 8' h x 7' w metal wall sculpture for the hospital's meditation room.

Goals

The Architect/Interior Design Team, SmithGroupJJR created a special niche focal point space at the front of the hospitals meditation room. The art for this space needed to be a non-denominational calming respite to the stresses and tensions that can sometimes be faced in health care. As a leader in the healthcare industry, Kaiser Permanente recognizes the importance of commissioned artwork, specially designed for the space, in creating an environment that promotes healing. The art committee responsible for the selection was open to varied mediums, but felt it was important to have a piece of art that would draw the viewer into a contemplative place while also uplifting them giving a feeling of hope and peace.

Process

J.D. Thompson and Associates, the art consultant for the project, being familiar with our work was drawn to the unique quality of the luminescent metal tiles, arranged in overlapping layers which create both a textural and reflective quality. Having shared several varied art medium solutions to the art committee for review, it was our soothing palette of blues, purples and gold depicting an abstract interpretation of a soft horizon line reflecting in water that was deemed the perfect solution. The budget allowed for the artwork to fill out a floor to ceiling niche, creating a large presence at 8 feet high by 7 feet wide. We submitted several renderings of various designs fitting their criteria to fine-tune the final commission selection as well as small section mock up panel so that the commission vision was clear. A structure this large that needed to work within the specific safety guidelines of a California hospital was also an important aspect of this commission. An eight-panel hardwood structure was created specific to the site, which was matched and intricately overlaid to create one seamless piece.