GOA: Re-Purposed Treasures

Re-Purposed Treasures: A Community Art Piece
Celebrating UMHS Environmental Stewardship
University Hospital, Floor 1
Re-Purposed Treasures art piece

Community Art
In fall 2010, Gifts of Art worked with University of Michigan Health System staff, U-M art students, Professor Anne Mondro, and local artist Douglas Madaras to create Re-Purposed Treasures. This collaborative art piece, made entirely with reused objects and materials, demonstrates how a community working together can transform the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Re-Purposed Treasures, 30 ft. in length, is now on permanent display in the Main Corridor on Floor 1 of the University of Michigan Hospital. It is located between the Dragon of Wishes, Hopes and Dreams and the red column at Family Surgery Waiting.

Environmental Sustainability
For this project, we made art together to celebrate and reaffirm our award winning environmental sustainability efforts at UMHS. By using re-purposed and recycled materials, we further demonstrated that environmental stewardship is a part of our legacy of excellence.

The Process
UMHS employees contributed mementos and stories for U-M students to make into art. From these objects, 20 art students, under the supervision of Mondro, each created an original artwork and installed it within a specially designed box by Madaras. Madaras then crafted the boxes into the final piece. The students wrote artist statements about their experiences which are available along with the staff submitted stories below:

Information on Individual Boxes – Artist Statements & Stories

#1 Read the Artist Statement & Story