The blue floral tattoo on Tyler Sherard’s neck serves as a reminder of who he is, and what he wants to see more of in the world. “It’s another way of providing access to art and sharing it with other people, and of identifying me as an artist,” he says of the ink done by Marigold Santos.
Sherard takes a unique position in Edmonton as a curator of Canada’s first purpose-built gallery in a hospital in his role with the University Hospital Foundation. Unlike a destination gallery, this art collection exists within the hospital where people visit for medical, family and community reasons. It serves as a refuge for some and a welcome distraction for others.
Earlier in COVID, a break space for staff was created inside the gallery. It still exists and gives a separation from the hospital for individuals to rest, recharge, and “experience meaningful exhibitions from local and international contemporary artists” in the gallery’s 2,000-work collection.
With his team, he also runs the Artists on the Wards program, which brings visual, musical and literary artists to work directly with patients on the floor to experience and create art. In the fall of 2024, the group presented research at the McMullen Gallery in the University of Alberta Hospital, showing the positive outcomes arts in the hospital can have on patients, from physiological improvements to increased senses of well-being and self-confidence.
“I am motivated by the impact art can have on people in hospital, whether it’s through written word, visual arts or music, or some other art,” Sherard says. “We want to help heal through the arts.”
This article appears in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Edify
