Activo del mes: Believe in art

Art does not cure, but it somehow contributes to keeping the spirit alive. Under the premise of bringing art to the healthcare field, humanizing cold hospital spaces, it was born in 2013. Believe in artThe activity of this non-profit association from Zaragoza is inspired by cutting-edge projects that support the art and health binomial in the English-speaking world. Believe in Art considers space as a “third caregiver” that can unconsciously improve the mental and emotional well-being of people who go through a hospital.

Behind this project that aims to bring humanity and warmth to the grey hospital spaces are three women: Beatriz Lucea, María Luisa Grau and Marisa Vela, who, helped by a large and very involved group of volunteers of different ages, professions and times, work daily for and on behalf of the project. The association is responsible for carrying out specific artistic curatorial work for each of the hospitals that are interested in filling their spaces with colour and coordinating the entire process until the murals are finished.

During this decade, Believe in Art has brought art to more than a hundred rooms and common areas in Aragon and other hospitals in Spain. The association has managed to fill one of the most emblematic facades of the Aragonese capital with colour, that of the Maternal and Child Hospital. This intervention, the work of Zaragoza artists Maiky Maik, Harsa, Alva Mocca and Vera Galindo, was a milestone for the association, as it was the first time in Spain that the façade of a hospital was artistically intervened.

Among all the actions carried out, the artistic intervention carried out in the oncology ward of the Children’s Hospital, the pediatric surgery wards or the pediatrics wards of the Clinical Hospital of Zaragoza and the San Jorge of Huesca, or the Nuclear Medicine waiting room of the Miguel Servet also stand out.

Last year 2023, the organization launched a new project ‘Paintings that give life’. On this occasion, Believe in Art in collaboration with the 22 female directors who participated in the master’s degree of the II Edition in Aragon of the Program for the Development of the Management of Women with High Potential of the School of Industrial Organization (EOI) wanted to make the moment of childbirth even more special. Once the first interventions at the Hospital Clínico have been completed, the objective is to extend this project to all participants in Aragon.

Performance in the waiting room of Pediatrics at the Alcañiz Health Center

Performance in the corridors of the Oncology ward of the Clinical Hospital of Zaragoza

Performance in the waiting room of Pediatrics at the Andorra Health Center

THE POWER OF ART

Last November, Believe in Art held its first Congress on Art and Health at the San Jorge University in Zaragoza, where a qualitative and quantitative study promoted by the Government of Aragon and the University of Zaragoza was also presented, which provides ample data on the suitability of introducing art in health centres. It has been demonstrated, and there was already literature on the subject, that artistic activity and the contemplation of art reduce stress levels and promote calm in patients and their families.

Convinced of the transformative power of art, Believe in Art will intervene together with the Spanish Association Against Cancer in the treatment and hospitalization areas where cancer and related pathologies are treated in the Autonomous Community of Aragon, a project that began this year 2024, and which works in parallel to the mural interventions that are being carried out in primary care health centers both in Zaragoza capital and in rural areas.

The mission is to create warmer, friendlier and ultimately more humane environments, thereby fostering a more positive attitude in patients and their companions, significantly improving their mood and, ultimately, making patients’ recovery faster.

The Aragonese NGO also carries out numerous workshops and projects, always with the aim of spreading the charitable work of Believe in Art and reaching any healthcare space that requires it through artistic creation.

Believe in art