Dear friends,

I have spoken frequently on the subject of art as healing, especially during quarantine. The importance of this idea is the foundation for an inspiring collaboration Montalvo participated in that was recently completed.

In 2017, SV Creates invited Montalvo to partner on an Artist in Residency program at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC), funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2018, a Request For Proposal was posted through the Lucas Artists Program to identify an artist that could transform the public areas of SCVMC’s Women and Children’s Center into a welcoming, magical space. 

Leah Rosenberg, a Guest Artist in Montalvo's Lucas Artists Program, was selected for the residency. She set her eyes upon the barren outdoor courtyard, and in early October completed the work. Entitled Like A Multivitamin, it is an installation of 30 different colors in the space, each containing healing properties accentuated by 30 haiku poems. With the use of these two elements, Rosenberg brought stunning transformation to an environment described as “grey and sterile.”

As a multivitamin provides various sources of nourishment, Rosenberg asks in the video above, "What if a combination of these colors—or even sitting in front of one color daily—heals you?”

What if art heals you?

In Scratch Space episode 9, “How Can We Keep Our Hearts Open?” airing next Thursday, November 19, Rosenberg is joined by artist Christine Wong Yap to discuss their mutual interest in psychological wellbeing at a time of great social anxiety and discord. Both sharing work created during the pandemic, we'll explore Wong Yap's public art portraits of real New York City medical workers as messages of gratitude while examining how color can aid wellness and resiliency in Rosenberg's Like A Multivitamin.

Essential workers of the soul supporting essential workers of society.

We are thrilled to be a part of such a successful and inspiring partnership, and a model for future collaborations, that engages artists to create spaces that ignite curiosity and lift the spirit. SCVMC’s dedication to investing as equally in the healing environment of their patients and staff as in their medical technology shows that the wellness of our spirit is just as important as our physical wellness. 

The expansion of artist-in-residence programs into SCVMC, corporations, and other organizations is an embrace of the fact that art is not separate from the rest of our lives: it is and should be woven into every aspect of it.

P.S., to watch Episode 9 of Scratch Space live, you can register through the button below: