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‘It’s comforting’

Local artists hope to evoke emotion at Warren General Hospital

Times Observer photo by Stacey Gross From left are Debbie Gray, Marian Aranyos, George Lilja, and Diane DeLarme.

Times Observer photo by Stacey Gross From left, Marian Aranyos, Debbie DeLarme, and George Lilja.

“It’s like walking into an art gallery!”

That’s what Volunteer Services Director Debbie Gray said she’s heard said about the artwork that now lines the corridors of Warren General Hospital.

The artwork, by members of the Warren Art League, as well as quilts from Allegheny Quilt Works, is there thanks to a partnership between the artists and hospital administration. According to Gray, artwork and quilts on display in the hospital and the Cancer Care Center can be purchased, with sales facilitated through the Window Box, Warren General’s gift shop.

According to Marian Aranyos, a member of the Warren Art League, the idea to show and sell work at Warren General has been in the works since fall of last year, when someone from Warren Medical Group suggested that she bring in some artwork to decorate the newly-remodeled offices on the second floor of the hospital.

That was in November, said Aranyos. The Warren Art League has had work displayed at the Crary Art Gallery and the Warren Public Library, but never in the hospital. She said that art is something that many people consider a luxury item. Artists, she said, tend to feel unappreciated, or that people have stopped appreciating art itself, when it’s not selling. But that, said Aranyos, simply isn’t true. Art evokes emotion and is meaningful to all people, she said. But not everyone visits the Crary Gallery or the Library.

Warren General, said Aranyos, is a place where many people from many different walks of life are likely to visit. With artwork throughout hospital hallways, she said, it casts a wider net for artists as well as for those who might appreciate their artwork.

“It’s comforting,” she said.

Diane DeLarme, another Warren Art League member, said that she often scopes out the artwork in waiting rooms, and she thinks many who visit the hospital will as well.

After Christmas, artists began gathering their work and delivering it to the hospital.

And, according to George Lilja, Warren General Hospital’s Director of Marketing and Development, “It’s a win-win for us,” and he hopes that the artwork will draw people into the hospital who simply want to see what’s there.

“It gets our artwork out there and we’re helping the hospital,” said Aranyos.

Artists, she said, are actually helping the hospital in more ways than simply making their work available to view or by at WGH. All artwork sold at the hospital, she said, will result in 20 percent of the sale going to the hospital for commission. That money, she said, will help the hospital to do more programming.

And there’s a lot of room left, said Gray.

The entire second and third floors are still open for artwork by local artists. Artists need not be members of the Warren Art League to submit work, and while it’s not a juried show, she said there is an informal vetting process for work to be included. “It has to be appropriate,” said Gray.

Anyone interested in submitting artwork for the Warren General “gallery” can contact Debbie Gray by calling (814) 723-4973, extension 1835, or by emailing gdebbie@wgh.org.

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