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Clinical Center Fine Arts Program
The NIH Clinical Center Fine Art Collection
Improving the patient experience at America’s research hospital
Established in 1984, the Collection of Fine Art at the NIH Clinical Center features a thoughtfully curated selection of original artwork throughout the hospital. Each piece was carefully chosen as a source of respite, hope or inspiration for Clinical Center patients, caregivers and staff.
The collection reflects a variety of mediums, materials, scale and subject matter. Artworks range from oil paintings, watercolors, illustrations and photography to sculpture, ceramics, glass, pottery and textiles.
The program was created in response to a direct patient care need: Staff in a newly constructed oncology unit requested artwork to soothe and distract pediatric patients.
Local By Design
Many museum-quality artworks have been donated or produced by former patients, caregivers, staff and benefactors. Exhibiting artists have been one of our greatest sources for donations. They appreciate being able to show at the Clinical Center and want to give back. The majority of works, however, were acquired over time using construction funds.
While the collection includes several works by towering figures of 20th century American art, such as Louise Nevelson’s soaring iron sculpture Night Sky, the program has focused from the outset on displaying work by local artists.
Incorporating work primarily by Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia artists serves to foster a unique sense of place at the Clinical Center, one that is rooted in the surrounding environment and community.
This local focus extends to the NIH campus and Clinical Center. The CC Fine Arts program has collaborated extensively with the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum to establish dedicated space in the Clinical Center for permanent historical exhibits.
Located in highly trafficked central first-floor walkways, these exhibits serve to document, celebrate and share the story of notable NIH and Clinical Center figures and research breakthroughs.
Examples include exhibits on Nobel laureates Marshall Nirenberg, a pioneering architect of plasma cell tumor research; Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, a biochemist who unraveled the mysteries of protein folding; and Harvey Alter, who helped discover the hepatitis C virus, among others.
Fostering Innovation
As with many NIH Clinical Center innovations, other hospitals soon followed its example. Today, more than half of the country’s hospitals have established fine arts programs to enhance their patient experience and work environment.
“If a patient comes across an amazing work of art that is unexpected and it touches them, it’s wonderful to have changed their hospital experience,” Lillian Fitzgerald, curator of the Clinical Center’s Fine Art Collection, said. “Being in the hospital can be very stressful. Thoughtfully selected original art is so much more than a simple distraction; it is a source of healing inspiration and hope.”
Partnerships play a key role in the continued success of the Clinical Center Fine Arts Program. Exhibits have been mounted at the hospital or shared externally in collaboration with the U.S. Botanical Garden, the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, among other federal agencies.
Shows of new artwork are also installed in five galleries reserved for rotating exhibits and change every three months. The regular infusion of new art in these highly trafficked areas creates a sense of dynamism in these spaces.
Artwork on display in the Clinical Center’s temporary galleries is available for sale with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Patient Emergency Fund. Administered by the CC Social Work Department, the fund provides emergency food, housing and clothing to accompanying patient family members in need.