Like gardens, art in the healthcare setting has healing potential. And like gardens, the artwork chosen should be based on evidence rather than solely on the opinions or aesthetics of designers, administrators, or curators.

Here is an excellent post by Healthcare Fine Art blogger Henry Domke about why choice of artwork should be evidence based, "Where's the Beef? The Evidence for Evidence-Based Art."

Probably one of the most influential studies and essays is
Ulrich, Roger S. and Laura Gilpin (2003). "Healing arts: Nutrition for the Soul." In Putting Patients First: Designing and Practicing Patient-Centered Care. Eds. Frampton, Susan B., Laura Gilpin, and Patrick A. Charmel. San Francisco:John Wiley & Sons.

Some good online resources:

Healthcare Fine Art (www.healthcarefineart.com)
An excellent resource, this is a blog by a family practice physician and fine art photographer Henry Domke. A good place to start.

Arts and Healing (www.artheals.org)
Many more links on this website.

Society for the Arts in Healthcare (www.thesah.org)
A great organization with many resources and link on their website.

Books and articles:

Domke, Henry (2009). Picture of Health: Handbook for Healthcare Art. Henry Domke Fine Art. You can download the book for free from the Healthcare Fine Art Website or by clicking here.

Hathor, Kathy and Upali Nanda. A Guide to Evidence-based Art. Published by the Center for Health Design.

Malkin, Jain (2008). A Visual Reference for Evidence-Based Design. The Center for Health Design.

Nanda, Upali. "Art for Health's Sake: An Evidence-Based Approach." In Asian Hospital & Healthcare Management.

Nanda, Upali, Kathy Hathorn, and Tali Neumann (2007). "The Art-Cart Program."

Nanda, Upali, Cherly M. Canaud, Linda Brown, Robyn Hart, and Kathy Hathorn (2009). "Pediatric Art Preferences: Countering the 'One-Size-Fits-All' Approach." Health Environments Research & Design Journal (HERD), Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 46-61.

Spencer, Jon Michael (1997). Live Arts Experiences: Their Impact on Health and Wellness, 2nd Edition. Hospital Audiences, Inc.