Sculptures and Furniture
Book Nooks
Art in the Bloomberg Children’s Center doesn’t just hang on the walls. Some is actually built into the walls, like the dioramas by Baltimore artist Jennifer Strunge, who created animal families out of recycled cloth. The animals are posed reading books, providing landmarks to patients and families traveling through the hospital, and inspiring reading and exploration of the hospital’s public spaces.
Sculptures by Robert Israel
Created by set designer Robert Israel to delight, entertain, and comfort young patients, several oversized, child-friendly sculptures are located in and around The Johns Hopkins Hospital:
Ostrich Sculpture
In the four-story entrance to the Bloomberg Children’s Center, a 22-foot-tall, brightly colored ostrich appears to float in air, suspended from the ceiling of the sunlit atrium. Look for the ostrich egg sitting nearby on the information desk nearby.
Puffer Fish Sculpture
A family of puffer fish swims above patients and visitors in the Bloomberg Children’s Center.
Flying Cow Sculpture
A large cow (with a nine-foot wingspan) flies high above the main information desk in the lobby of the Bloomberg Children’s Center. Circling a column above the desk is a sculptural depiction of the 28 phases of the moon.
Rhinoceros Sculpture
A big rhinoceros stands on an uneven, rugged surface with a little rhinoceros on its’ back outside the entrance to the Bloomberg Children’s Center Emergency Department. The relationship between the big and little rhinoceros is intended to provide children with a sense of security as they enter the hospital.
Tabletops and Furniture
The facilities' architects designed sculptural furniture that is both functional and comfortable, and throughout the buildings, art is incorporated in unexpected places. An intricately detailed watercolor by artist Scott Teplin sits under the glass top of a desk near the ground floor entrance, and sculptures by Kate Malone and Kathy Butterly sit atop the spiraling information desks. Under a glass tabletop on the main level, artist Polly Apfelbaum’s cross-sections of fallen branches create a natural mosaic.
