Clinical Nurse SpecialistA Copyright B 2018
Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Nursing and the Arts
Column Editor: Jeanine Young-Mason, EdD, RN, CS, FAAN
Where Art and Architecture Come Together
to Make a Difference in the Lives of Patients,
Researchers, and Caregivers
The Chihuly Sanctuary at the Fred and Pamela Buffet Cancer
Center in Omaha, Nebraska
Jeanine Young-Mason, EdD, RN, CS, FAAN
And so when you’re working with transparent materials,
when you’re looking at glass, plastic, ice, or water,
you’re looking at light itself. The light is coming
through, and you see that cobalt blue, that ruby
red, whatever the color might beVyou’re looking at
the light and the color mix together. Something
magical and mystical, something we don’t
understand, nor should we care to understand.
Sort of like trying to understand the moon. Water
has magical powers and glass has magical powers.
So does plastic, and so does ice.’’ 1999, Dale Chihuly1
he Fred and Pamela Buffet Cancer Center2
‘‘T is designed to be a place of holistic healing,
providing the highest level of cancer care
and treatment. But healing often requires more than
just treating patients medically. ‘Studies have shown that
creating an atmosphere of hope and resilience through
artwork goes beyond curing a disease and leads to im-
proved patient outcomes,’’’ Dr Kenneth Cowan, director
of the project.
The project’s healing arts program was launched during
the planning stages, inspired by that research on the medical
benefits of art and with the goal of creating environments
that support and comfort patients and staff.
Author Affiliation: Distinguished Professor Emerita, College of Nursing,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
The author reports no conflicts of interest.
Correspondence: Jeanine Young-Mason, EdD, RN, CS, FAAN, College of
Nursing, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 9 Seaview Lane, Newbury,
MA 01951 (arts4health@comcast.net; www.arst4health.org).
DOI: 10.1097/NUR.0000000000000381
212 www.cns-journal.com
Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of the program include therapeutic art, music,
and poetry programs for patients; diverse art collections;
and Leslie’s Healing Garden, featuring heated pathways
for snow melt that are wide enough to accommodate
hospital beds. The program’s cornerstone, though, is
the 3667-ft2 Chihuly Sanctuary, which was unveiled in
May 2017 before the facility opening and is home to more
than 3000 handblown glass elements by world-renowned
glass artist Dale Chihuly.
The idea for the sanctuary was born during early con-
versations between Chihuly and Omaha philanthropist
Walter Scott regarding the arts program.3 During that
conversation, Scott asked Chihuly whether there was
something he still wanted to do; his reply was ‘‘I want
to build a chapel.’’
THE CHIHULY SANCTUARY
Readers are encouraged to view YouTube videos about
this magnificent undertaking at the Nebraska Medical
Center, which was funded by Suzanne and Walter Scott.
There, you will learn more about the beginnings of the
project, meet the architect and artist, see the artist and
his staff creating the glass sculptures in the art studio, and
witness the transformative and mysterious beauty of the
Chihuly Sanctuary.
On YouTube, the Chihuly Sanctuary at the Fred and
Pamela Buffet Cancer Care Center Omaha, Nebraska (all
advertisements on YouTube can be skipped)
1. October 20, 2015: planning stages
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BpBPbKd1BY
2. May 19, 2017: Chihuly Sanctuary unveiled
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDA1dbD9Stk
July/August 2018
 3. July 29, 2015: Leslie’s Healing Garden
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtv5LgkAojM
4. May 22, 2017: Fred and Pamela Buffet Cancer
Center Tour
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxUoeBDM820
AN AFTERWARDITHOUGHTS FOR
CONTEMPLATION
In her 1888 book, Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What
It Is Not, Nightingale wrote about the crucial importance
of beauty, color, and light in the healing process.
The effect in sickness of beautiful objects, of variety
of objects and especially brilliancy of colour is
hardly at all appreciated....
I have seen in fevers (and felt, when I was a fever
patient myself) the most acute suffering produced in
the patientInot being able to see out of the window,
and the knots in the wood being the only view. I shall
never forget the rapture of fever patients over a bunch
of bright colored flowers. I remember (in my own
case) a nosegay of wild flowers being sent me, and
from that moment recovery becoming more rapid.
People say the effect is only on the mind. It is no
such thing. The effect is on the body, too. Little as
Clinical Nurse Specialist A
Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
we know about the way in which we are affected
by form, by colour and light, we do know this, they
have an actual physical effect.
Variety of form and brilliancy of colour in the objects
presented to patients are actual means of recovery.4
References
1. Chihuly D. Chihuly Gardens and Glass. Seattle, WA: Portland
Press; 2002:154Y156. (Gardens and Glass holds 97 color pho-
tographs and personal insights from the artist plus a CD with an
in-depth view of the artist at work.)
2. Community members, medical center employees, and other no-
table Nebraskans. From vision to reality. May 8, 2013. www.
youtube.com/watch?v=NBHAKZruMck. (The facility is the product
of a joint effort between Nebraska Medicine and the University of
Nebraska Medical Center. The sanctuary opened in June 2017 and
comprises the Suzanne and Walter Scott Cancer Research Tower,
C.L. Werner Cancer Hospital, and a multidisciplinary outpatient
centerYa collaboration of community members, medical center
employees, and other notable Nebraskans.)
3. Carpenter B. Cancer care: House of glass: The Chihuly Sanctuary at
the Fred & Pamela Buffet Cancer Center. healthcaredesign
magazine.com/projects/house/class-chihuly-sanctuary-fred-
pamela-buffet-cancer-center/. Accessed March 15, 2018. (Bruce
Carpenter, AIA, is senior vice president and principal-in-charge at
HDR, the architectural firm for the Buffet Cancer Center.).
4. Nightingale F. Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not.
Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company; 1888/1992:33Y34.
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