ART HEALS

AltaMed believes that art is essential to healing bodies, spirits, and communities, as it encourages creativity and imagination. Since its inception, AltaMed has been committed to a holistic approach to healing, recognizing the importance of social determinants of health, such as access to parks, education, healthy food, and even arts and culture. Because of this, AltaMed has maintained a corporate art collection since the 1970s, which is installed in all its medical facilities. It also hires artists to conduct workshops with seniors and offers free art workshops for the communities it serves. The people who visit our clinics benefit from the art not just because of the beauty of the pieces or the vibrancy of the environment but because they see themselves reflected in the artwork. They see their experiences, their culture, and their history. At AltaMed, we believe that representation matters and that feeling seen positively impacts the quality of a person's care!
For its community World AIDS Day event in December 2016 at AltaMed's HIV Prevention and Youth Services site in Boyle Heights, AltaMed partnered with Self-Help Graphics & Art, a nonprofit visual arts center that also serves Latino communities in Los Angeles. Self-Help Graphics & Art highlights the work of Chicano and Latino artists through a variety of visual arts media. As part of the event, they presented a live theatrical performance of The PrEP Monologues. An art exhibition chronicling HIV-past, present, and future-was also on display. The event highlighted the role of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in reducing new HIV infections, particularly within communities of color.

On another World AIDS Day, AltaMed launched its telenovela web series, Sin Vergüenza, which was produced to help reduce HIV stigma and shame while increasing awareness of the importance of safe sex practices. To promote the series, AltaMed hosted an event and press conference where community members painted a mural–Tree of Life–with each participant adding a leaf inscribed with a personal message.

In addition to installing art at all our health centers, AltaMed offers weekly art classes at our Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), taught by professional bilingual artists. The creation and enjoyment of the arts have helped our senior participants emotionally navigate illness, process difficult emotions, manage daily pain from chronic conditions, and boost their cognitive and social skills.
Margaret Garcia, Psalm 23, 2022-2023, Oil on 3 wooden boards.
Photo credit: Dario S. Garcia

ART IN THE CLINICS
Commissioned Indoor Mural

In 2022 for the first time in its history, AltaMed commissioned a large-scale indoor mural for its Norwalk PACE clinic by well-known Chicana artist, Margaret Garcia. Ms. Garcia worked closely with patients at this clinic to get to know their stories, memories, and dreams. For her mural, she was inspired by the lanterns filled with light that people place on the water at Echo Park, representing their dreams. AltaMed provided paper lanterns and markers as an art activity, and Ms. Garcia worked with patients to draw their own dreams and good thoughts on the lanterns. Staff and physicians also got involved in the activities. The result was a beautiful mural that brightens the activity room not only with a beautiful landscape, but also with a young girl placing lanterns onto the lake that now connects with everyone at the clinic, as they remember their own wishes. Psalm 23 is also very special because of the affinity Margaret Garcia has for our elderly participants. When creating the mural, Garcia put herself in their place and created an image that would provide peace and tranquility, as well as stimulate memories and positive emotions.
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Art in the Community

The Imagining a Healthy Future program, developed as part of the PoderArte grant, invites community members to think about what they need to have a healthy future and express themselves through various art projects. Led and supported by community artists and AltaMed professionals, these workshops provide a space for individuals to make their voices heard as part of a communal movement towards positive change.

Funding for PoderArte was made possible by a one-time $60 Million General Fund allocation from the 2021 California State Budget to create the California Creative Corps pilot program through the California Arts Council. Of these funds, AltaMed was awarded $50,000 to deliver six workshops over a six-month period within the Southeast Los Angeles region. Each workshop sought to create:

Narrative Change: Strength-based narratives that amplify community voice, center cultural strengths and identity, and/or reframe how a community is presented.

Community Educational Campaign: Raise public awareness and access to information around local issues that impact community well-being.

Civic Engagement: Spark individual and/or collective civic action that addresses shifts in local, state, and national systems and/or policy, including election participation.
Creative Aging

In-Person Classes: In addition to showcasing art at all of our health centers, AltaMed offers weekly art therapy sessions that promote wellness and healing at our Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE ). The creation and enjoyment of the arts have helped our senior participants emotionally navigate illness, process difficult emotions, manage daily pain from chronic conditions, and boost their cognitive and social skills.

Virtual Classes: Art is more than just creative self-expression; it is a form of healing. Thanks to the generous support from Keck Medicine of USC, we embarked on an innovative journey—a 12-week pilot program designed to explore the transformative impact of art on homebound seniors grappling with moderate to severe depression. This unique opportunity was offered to 37 participants enrolled in AltaMed’s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) program.

Beginning in late December 2023 through March 2024, the course helped fill an especially lonely period of time for seniors during the holiday season. This initiative not only offered therapeutic benefits but also fostered invaluable social connections. By leveraging the power of technology, we brought the warmth and inspiration of art straight into their homes. These seniors accessed professional artists for personalized instruction via Grand Pad tablets—an exciting venture that not only enriched their lives artistically but also provided a complementary, holistic service within the PACE program.