FOR THE PERSON SITTING HERE TODAY
If you are sitting here — waiting, resting, accompanying someone you love — this page is for you.
You may be feeling many things at once. Hope. Fear. Strength. Exhaustion. Uncertainty. Calm.
None of these feelings are wrong. All of them are welcome.
This collection was created with you in mind.
The artwork around you is here to offer quiet company. It does not expect anything from you.
You do not need to understand it or analyze it. You do not need to feel inspired. You only need to be exactly as you are.
Maybe a color catches your eye.
Maybe a landscape reminds you of somewhere familiar.
Maybe a texture feels grounding.
Maybe a piece simply gives you something else to look at for a few moments.
Sometimes healing looks like treatment.
Sometimes it looks like rest.
Sometimes it looks like breathing slowly and letting your eyes wander across a wall.
If you find yourself here often, we hope the art begins to feel familiar — like a quiet presence that recognizes you. If this is your first visit, we hope something here offers steadiness.
This space was designed not only for care, but for dignity. For pause. For belonging.
You are not alone in this room.
And whatever you are carrying today, there is space for it here.
HEALING INSPIRATIONS:
JACHMAN FAMILY ART COLLECTION
Ever since I started on the path of creating tapestries for cancer treatment facilities, I was very conscious of messaging with uplifting color and images for patients and visitors to enjoy. Various inspirations came to mind, based on the relationship I hoped my art would have with someone in these settings. Perhaps they would be looking for a positive encounter, transporting them to an imaginary place, where they could find strength and comfort.
My use of color is the first point of engagement, and then the narrative follows. So it is as if getting someone’s attention and then telling them a story. The words are in my stitches and the paragraphs are in the images. The beginning is in the viewer’s own journey, and there is no dictated ending. It is about being in the moment and knowing there are possible times of inner reflection and calm.
This is what carefully curated art in an institutional setting can do. Welcome and guide the viewer to another time and place, where imagination, reflection and peacefulness can reign. There are moments of feeling strength and self healing. I give these moments, in my work and the entire collection, to those who take the time to receive their grace. I want nothing in return but to know that I’ve made a difference in someone’s healing or caring experience, and they know that the art of healing is accessible to all.
Our committee of doctors, administrators and contracted professionals made the entire art collection possible. Each artist’s creation was selected with patients and caretakers in mind.
The talent and creativity we present to Sinai, as part of LifeBridge, for the Mandy & Dennis Weinman Cancer Building is curated to offer an inspiring experience to patients, caretakers, and professional health care workers on a daily basis. I am thankful to be part of this opportunity.
- Wendy Jachman
FROM THE CURATOR
WELCOME.
The Jachman Family Art Collection was created with you in mind — the patients, families, caregivers, and staff who move through this building each day.
Our guiding idea is “Holding Space.” To hold space means to be present for someone without judgment. It means making room for joy, uncertainty, strength, grief, hope — whatever you may be carrying with you. In a cancer center especially, this kind of presence matters.
The artworks in this collection were chosen to create moments of pause and connection. Some may feel grounding. Others may feel uplifting. Some may remind you of nature, of home, or of the people who care for you. Many of the artists are connected to Baltimore and the surrounding community, reflecting the resilience and spirit of this place.
You do not need to understand art in any formal way to experience it. There is no right or wrong response. If a piece brings you comfort, curiosity, memory, or simply a moment of distraction — it is doing its work.
This collection is not meant to decorate the walls. It is meant to help create an environment of dignity and belonging. A place where you can breathe. A place where you can feel supported. A place that holds space for you.
With care,
Liz Faust
Curator, Jachman Family Art Collection