Nancy Witherell ART

Every now and then we like to highlight an artist that inspires us. This time it is Angelina Duckett of Angelina Duckett Mosaics. Angelina worked alongside our principal, Nancy Witherell, over the course of five months to create this memorial mosaic for Nancy’s son Wiley. The mosaic was installed this weekend at the Children’s Memorial in Spring Lake Park, Santa Rosa. We honor you for your talent, and thank you Angelina.

A passing driver shouted up to our team on the scaffolding, "It's beautiful, we are all going to be OK!"

Unbelievably, the team finished getting the panels up yesterday.

These two stories are being played out across the street from each:

First, Memorial Hospital is steeling itself to be awash with patients arriving from the community requiring care in the face of an unknown future with the novel Coronavirus - preparing a fever clinic and an “ER tent”. Second, Martha Wade and her team of four has been installing her 4 story, 28’ x 52’ mural of Poppies and Lupine, 20 months in creation, across the street on the new six-story parking structure built to support Memorial Hospital and the new Medical Office Building they are building next to it. The mural is a series of 22 panels that took her 10 months to paint in her studio, her design was chosen from among 5 other artists. It will take a week for Martha to hand touch up the seams from this point baring a county wide shut down. Next, the safety netting will come down, allowing her to see the big picture and touch up any final transitions that catch her eye.

Dr. Amy Shaw works in the Cancer Center in the Medical Office Building across the street from the mural. She said that she and her team have been coming out to look up at the mural on their breaks and follow the progress. At the end of her workday yesterday she reported, “ The poppies and lupine are spectacular. Beautiful site as I walk out of my office after a long and stressful day.”

At Nancy Witherell Art, we appreciate Memorial’s commitment to exercising Santa Rosa's 1% for Public Art initiative with this large, exterior project when they built their new Medical Office Building and accompanying parking structure and for reaching out to us to execute it. We can all use beauty in uncertainty.

Once again, the science supports the arts. "Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has found that the mental health and experiences of those receiving intrusive examinations, surgery, chemotherapy and emergency care are improved when visual art is installed." This kind of report makes all of us here at NWA feel good, knowing we are doing our part to help people heal.

Filling hospitals with art reduces patient stress, anxiety and pain Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has found that the mental health and experiences of those receiving intrusive examinations, surgery, chemotherapy and emergency care are improved when visual art is installed.

Shea House! This lovely home-away-from-home that serves families with hospitalized babies in the Sutter Santa Rosa NICU had to be rebuilt after the fires two years ago. Good things take time. And this is a Good Thing. We are proud of our work here and grateful we had the opportunity to serve our community in such a meaningful way. Check out https://www.sutterhealth.org/services/pregnancy-childbirth/shea-house-ssrrh