Earlier this week, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center became home to more than 200 feet of shining, twisting, flowing aluminum. The new “Waves of Healing” sculpture was created and donated by Richard Montelone as a “thank you” to the Penn Medicine care teams who saved both of his parents’ lives. Monteleone hopes the piece, which is now suspended above the Cupp lobby, will help foster a calming and healing environment for families and loved ones of PPMC’s patients, a role he knows all too well.
In the past three years, Monteleone has spent more than 30 hours at PPMC, and none of it as a patient. In 2014, his mother underwent a successful open heart procedure, and earlier this year, he returned again after his father suffered a heart attack and would also require open heart surgery.
“Will he survive? What if he’s debilitated? Can my mom handle that?” Monteleone wondered as he waited for their doctors to deliver the news. “While we were waiting to hear about my dad’s surgery, I spent some time talking to other families who were waiting for their loved ones. All our stories were very similar. We spend a lot of time in the waiting area while our loved one is in surgery, wondering what the outcome will be. The waiting area is very important.”
The Cupp lobby, which became so familiar to Monteleone, was built in 1982, long before the aesthetic value of hospitals was a consideration. But now, as more and more studies have shown the positive impact of art on the healing process, design has become a critical component of facility development.
Across Penn Medicine’s facilities, art and medicine interact, creating environments that foster a sense of well-being and energy for patients, staff, and visitors. From sculptures that hang from ceilings, to displays of photographs and paintings that adorn the walls, Penn Medicine’s art collection has grown exponentially in recent years, with pieces contributed by professional artists, but also patients, employees, and area residents.
Between his mom’s procedure in 2014, and his dad’s earlier this year, Monteleone literally watched the development of PPMC’s new Pavilion for Advanced Care (PAC) from his seat in the Cupp lobby. The two spaces, he said, were like night and day.
Opened in 2014 to house Penn Medicine’s Trauma Center and several other critical care units, the PAC was designed with an eye toward creating an environment that promotes healing and comfort.
“The design team put great emphasis on making the Pavilion feel inviting and soothing for our patients and their families, which is a relatively new area of focus and importance for medical facilities,” said Alyson Cole, assistant executive director of Penn Presbyterian and PAC project executive. “There’s a healing power in art, which can serve as a source of comfort in difficult times. The way a hospital is designed and decorated is now so much more than aesthetics – it’s a visual representation of how we care for our patients and the people who matter most to them.”
The piece was created specifically for the Cupp lobby and took nearly nine hours to install in the 400 square foot space. Each curve and each inch of placement, Monteleone said, was made in accordance with how the light interacts with the aluminum used for the sculpture.
“I want to help counteract the grueling process of waiting for our loved ones with the beauty and spectacle of art,” he said. “The new Pavilion for Advanced Care achieves this beautifully through its architecture, design and healing garden, and I hope that now the Cupp lobby will do the same.”