New mural shines bright for patients and families at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital
We celebrated the launch of our extraordinary new 30-metre window mural at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH)!
The WCH is now home to a new extraordinary public art piece, the Mirdilyayanthi window mural, transforming the physical environment and providing hope and inspiration for patients and families.
The installation is an extension of the exhibition, Mirdilyayanthi: to shine bright, presented by the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation (WCH Foundation) Arts in Health Program as part of the Art Gallery of South Australia’s (AGSA) Tarnanthi 2021 festival.
Five Aboriginal artists were invited to create work that responded to the ‘shine bright’ theme. Grace Bennett, Elizabeth Close, Shane Cook, Thomas Readett and Jacki Saunders created individual pieces that were simultaneously an expression of their inner-self and an act of love for their Aboriginality and country. Elizabeth composed the elements from the individual artworks to transform them into this window mural and Dominic Guerrera then wrote a wonderful essay to accompany the project.
The Mirdilyayanthi window mural in the level 2 corridor of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Dance of light
WCH Foundation CEO, Jane Scotcher, says, “The window mural is a gift to the Hospital community. We are very proud to partner with AGSA to extend the Mirdilyayanthi exhibition and allow more people to experience the work of these talented artists.”
The beauty of the mural is further enhanced by the dance of light and shadow transposed onto the corridor as the sun changes position in the sky.
“We’ve seen children chasing the cast shadows, jumping over sections of the patterned light. The mural is bringing joy to those engaging with the space,” Ms Scotcher says.
Nici Cumpston OAM, Artistic Director, Tarnanthi Festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, says, “AGSA are very proud to have supported these five incredibly talented artists to create the works of art for the exhibition Mirdilyayanthi: to shine bright at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital for Tarnanthi in 2021.”
“Through Tarnanthi, we enable artists to be ambitious and the Mirdilyayanthi window mural is a public artwork that will continue the legacy and celebrate the lasting impact of this important project.”
The launch of the Mirdilyayanthi window mural. Left to right: Jane Scotcher (CEO, WCH Foundation), Phil Robinson (WCHN Executive Director, Corporate Services), Cathy Leanne (Manager, Aboriginal Strategic Partnerships Aboriginal Health Division), Samantha Yates (AGSA Producer of Tarnanthi), Nici Cumpston OAM (AGSA Director of Tarnanthi), artist Elizabeth Close and writer Dominic Guerrera.
Shining bright
The artists and partners of this project hope the Mirdilyayanthi window mural creates a space to ‘take a breath’ and allows a moment to find some calm in a busy health environment – a place to find some strength, to keep strong, and to shine bright.
Mirdilyayanthi: to shine bright is presented by the WCH Foundation Arts in Health Program in partnership with AGSA and the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN).
Back to all news