By Juliana Roslin, Lead Curator & Founder of the Art Firm

When it comes to curating artwork for healthcare environments, our decisions—about color, size, subject, and placement—can transform how a space feels, functions, and supports those who inhabit it. At the Art Firm, we create healthcare art programs that support healing environments, combining experience, empathy, and evidence-based design principles (EDAC) to curate with purpose. Our healthcare art consulting process is equal parts vision and strategy—deeply collaborative, always intentional, and rooted in the belief that art is a transformative element in healthcare design.

Why Color Matters in Healthcare Art

Color has the power to evoke calm, inspire joy, and even lift spirits. In healthcare environments—where patients, staff, and families are likely to face unprecedented moments of stress, vulnerability, or transition—color becomes more than aesthetics. It becomes a powerful tool for emotional support, providing reassurance and comfort in challenging times.

Our healthcare art consulting process implements EDAC principles by integrating biophilic artwork and nature-inspired palettes from a healthcare facility's regional area to foster familiarity and reduce anxiety. We aim to thoughtfully infuse healthcare spaces with curated artwork comprising color hues that promote serenity, vitality, and connection. Earth tones, soft greens, sky blues, and gentle neutrals often lead our color choices, always paired with sensitivity to regional context, culture, the designer's plan, and the organization we are serving mission.

A recent read exceptionally inspires us: Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross's book Your Brain on Art explores how the arts physiologically transform our brains. Integrating these concepts further validates what we see firsthand—art impacts well-being in measurable and meaningful ways.

The Importance of Balance: Artwork Sizing and Placement

One overlooked element we have identified in healthcare environments is the size and balance of artwork throughout extensive - long spaces, such as corridors and walkways. This element is an opportunity to improve art consulting protocols in healthcare spaces. For example, we created art plans in one recent healthcare project and curated an art package for a hospital with multiple corridors. I collaborated with the project manager on the art plan for the artwork placements. Then, I created the size plans - intentionally sizing all corridor artwork to the same height, regardless of vertical or horizontal. This implementation may sound minor, but its visual rhythm was significant—the art strategically placed below door frames, safely above handrails at eye level, creating a sense of continuity and calm.

While others may opt for an art curation approach of varied sizes to 'create interest,' we've seen how this often results in visual inconsistency—clutter even—which does not necessarily promote the principles of creating a calming environment. We approach healthcare art consulting centered on creating environments with visual harmony - balancing the art with the architectural elements led by EDAC principles to support wayfinding, essential in medical facilities where patients and guests rely on environmental cues to navigate the spaces, creating a sense of ease and relaxation.

For our art consulting projects, strategic placement begins with our staff architect, who reviews all elevation plans and ensures alignment with windows, hospital beds, and ADA compliance standards. Every inch matters and our goal is always to enhance—not disrupt—the flow of the space.

Our Process: Thoughtful, Collaborative, EDAC-Guided

At the Art Firm, every healthcare art program we curate begins with intention. We create a project vision aligning with the client's mission, community, care philosophy, and budget. This approach ensures the art we curate is practical, visually appealing, and supports healing.

1. Project Visioning —Aligning with the client's mission, community, care philosophy, and budget.

2. Architectural Review—Our in-house architect creates a draft art plan with our art curator, ensuring integration within the built environment.

3. Initial Curation & Artist Outreach —We engage local artists, often through a call to the artist, and curate artwork aligned with EDAC principles.

4. Color & Subject Strategy —Focused on biophilic themes, regional identity, and therapeutic impact.

5. Weekly Deliverables —Our art consultants provide steady communication and deliverables, maintaining project clarity and momentum.

6. Final Approvals & Fabrication—Over a dozen artisans work in our Tennessee-based facility, including art pre-press, custom framing, and packing specialists.

7. Installation —Overseen by an expert art consultant and handled by our trained art installers with precision and safety.

Our art consulting team includes a lead curator (that's me!), a staff artist, an architect, an operations lead, an operations assistant, and an installer—all working closely together to create and deliver meaningful healthcare art programs.

The Art Firm Difference

As the founder of the certified women—and minority-owned art consultancy Art Firm and an entrepreneur who has spent over twenty years in an art career—from a Worth Avenue gallery to establishing Ready2hangart, designing art for national retail fabricated at our manufacturing facility—I've learned that successful art programs require more than taste; they require intention, process, and partnership.

Since 2021, our art consulting teams in Florida and Tennessee have proudly focused on creating and curating artwork for specific projects and purposes. Each industry is unique. In healthcare environments, we integrate EDAC principles, collaborate with local artists through strategic licensing contracts, and remain hands-on throughout every project stage.

We believe art in healthcare is more than decoration—it's design with a profound role.

If you're a healthcare provider, design professional, or medical facility leader looking to create a supportive and healing space through healthcare art made in the USA, we invite you to connect with us at www.artfirm.com. Let our team of Florida Healthcare Art Curators and Tennessee Art Advisors transform your project—one meaningful piece at a time.