Concordia Journal Home > Archives > October 23, 2008 issue >

Art for Healing: Mills Purchase Prize 

As of this week, Sausage Pants (at left) by Michael Farnan is one of 15 works of art donated by Concordia University to the cardiology wing of the Royal Victoria Hospital under the auspices of the Art for Healing Foundation.

The works were acquired by the university through the Stanley Mills Purchase Prize. Mills was a Canadian history lecturer at Sir George Williams University in the 1950s. The collection was established in 1994 to recognize rising artists and to encourage those who also show interest and promise as educators. During that time, numerous pieces were purchased, but many were in storage with no permanent home.

Earl Pinchuk co-founded Art For Healing with Gary Blair precisely because they were struck by how the bleakness of the surroundings added to the sadness they felt while visiting a friend in the Royal Victoria Hospital in 2001. Since they established the foundation two years later, they have been able to bring nearly 600 original and reproduced works into 22 different area hospitals and health centres.

The donated art works will be accompanied by two plaques, one describing the origin of the works, the other, providing a brief biography of Mills. For more on the project, go to www.artforhealingfoundation.org