Small Wonder: 08 - 09 Hospital and Research Report

Artists visit inpatients at bedside

When children are hospitalized, they’re cut off from regular activities, friends and the outside world, and lose a sense of control.

Not ideal conditions for healing.

So Bloorview brings art and gardening to the bedside to help inpatients reconnect with their creativity and the natural world.

Artists and gardeners visit children one-on-one with trolleys packed with paints, brushes and clay, baskets of soil and seeds for planting, cut-flowers, water and watering cans.

The program is called ARTery because the art trolley run through the core of the hospital, restoring children’s metaphorical hearts.

“It can be transformative,” says Sarah Dobbs, director of Bloorview’s Centre for the Arts. “It’s an opportunity for the children to create and contribute again, and that leads to a sense of wellbeing and self-esteem.”

“I love it,” says Crystal Brown, 16, who’s spent half a year in hospital recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumour.

“On my first day at Bloorview I got to make a wonderful bamboo flute in ARTery.”

Crystal has spent three months in inpatient rehab receiving physical, speech and occupational therapies, going to school, and choosing a new hot pink wheelchair.

“ARTery is relaxing and it takes away stress,” she says – key ingredients in a hospitalized child’s recovery.

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CBC Here and Now: Taking homemade to a new level (MP3)

As the weather turns cold, things are just starting to sprout in the Spiral Garden Art Kitchen. Listen, as CBC visits the amazing space that combines nature, art and play. No two days are alike at Spiral Garden as children of all ages and abilities are inspired by the magical wonders of nature.

View a transcript of the CBC Here and Now podcast