Sculptures Exhibited at RWJ Hamilton's Christy Stephenson Grounds For Healing®

The Sculpture Foundation, Inc., Installs Four Artists' Work

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ Hamilton) is pleased to announce that The Sculpture Foundation has provided four sculptures that are now on exhibit in the new Christy Stephenson Grounds For Healing® on the hospital campus. The Grounds For Healing is a collaborative project between RWJ Hamilton and The Sculpture Foundation, Inc.

RWJ Hamilton opened its first healing garden in 2001 to complement its clinical expertise by providing serene, contemplative outdoor spaces designed for healing. The gardens offer a complete sensory experience and feature lush greenery, aquatic elements, detailed stonework coupled with comfortable seating areas. Each garden has been carefully designed in conjunction with The Sculpture Foundation and Grounds For Sculpture to promote an appreciation of art. There are four gardens dedicated to this collaborative project.

The newest Grounds For Healing, The Christy Stephenson GFH, named for past RWJ Hamilton President and CEO, is located outside the hospital's Roma Bank Garden Café and provides a tranquil environment with running water and seating for dining visitors. The garden exhibits artwork from artists Ron Klein, J. Seward Johnson, John Martini and Robert Pfitzenmeier. The garden and the work can be viewed from nearly every vantage point within the new building in addition to being a welcome place for visitors and employees to gather.

Robert Klein is a Seattle-based sculptor who creates artwork that provokes and stimulates the spirit of the observer. Klein's piece, Eclipse, uses shadow and light, and the energies of yin and yang, moon and sun come alive in the reflective nature of this stainless steel.

Sculptor J. Seward Johnson is well known for his stunningly realistic craftsmanship. His bronze figures – often reflecting everyday activities – are always the subject of a double take on the street and in parks. In The Hero you can see the artist's light-heartedness and his enthusiasm to involve his audience. The white plaster of the cast almost invites signing. The interaction between the two children reminds us how young people have the optimism to bring playfulness to a potentially painful situation.

John Martini is a Key West-based artist. Mad Bunny is an example of Martini's signature playful style. His sculptures are defined by his whimsical creatures, made of rough-edged steel, that convey a variety of expressions. The artist invites viewers to interpret his sculpture in relation to their own lives and frames of reference. Martini notes that "people always have great stories," and he enjoys hearing the stories and feelings that his sculptures evoke.

Robert Pfitzenmeier is a New Jersey native. His work, Point of View, is two long aluminum bars crossed in front of a pentagonal opening in the triangle, creating myriad geometric forms in the negative space. The upward thrust of the sculpture indicates the artist's hope for, as he says, "finding a greater balance between our techno-industrial civilization and the world of nature."

More About RWJ Hamilton
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ Hamilton) is the only New Jersey hospital to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Located in Hamilton Township, NJ, the hospital is part of the RWJ Health System and Network and is affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey-RWJ Medical School and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

The RWJ Hamilton Health Care Corporation serves communities within a five-county area and includes an acute care hospital, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey Hamilton, three affiliated medical groups, seven Lakeview Child Centers, and the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness, home of a medically-based fitness center and the hospital's extensive community education program. Over 1,900 hospital employees and 650 medical staff physicians share RWJ Hamilton's passion for Excellence Through Service. For more information, visit www.rwjhamilton.org.