The exhibition includes works by more than 70 artists displayed in a wing of the former hospital. (photo courtesy of Hospital of Emotions)
“Hospital of Emotions,” an exhibition featuring works by more than 70 artists and designers, runs from May 27-July 31 inside a former wing of the St. Vincent Medical Center, transforming the historic hospital site into an immersive, large-scale art experience.
Presented by House of Art and Dreams, ROYVA Group and the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, the exhibition reimagines the building as a space shaped by artists where emotion is experienced through environment, scale and imagination. Unlike a traditional exhibition, “Hospital of Emotions” uses the hospital itself as material, with the building becoming a journey through human emotion, shifting the focus from treating the body to experiencing and processing emotion, according to the curatorial team at House of Art and Dreams.
Spanning four floors, the exhibition brings together more than 70 artists and designers, each given a single hospital room and a directive to create an environment around human emotion. The result is 80 fully realized spaces exploring states such as love, fear, hope, anger and joy. Visitors move through the building room by room, stepping into distinct emotional worlds that range from intimate to expansive, surreal to unexpectedly playful. Patient rooms, operating areas, corridors and nurses’ stations remain intact, carrying the memory of the space’s former function.
One of the first hospitals in Los Angeles, St. Vincent Medical Center is currently transitioning into the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, a comprehensive behavioral health and supportive housing campus offering a full continuum of care. Select rooms are developed in collaboration with nonprofit partners including The People Concern and USAVEST, which are organizations working across mental health, veteran services and housing insecurity.
“Hospital of Emotions” runs through July 31 at 2131 W. Third St. General admission is $55; $48 for students and seniors 65 and older; $45 for children 4-12; and free for children under 4. For tickets and information, visit hospitalofemotions.com.