Western State Hospital seeks artists or artist teams who have lived experience with mental illness to design and create artwork for the patient courtyards at Western State Hospital’s new forensic hospital.

📆Deadline to apply: Thursday, February 29, 2024, 4 p.m. Pacific

💵 Budget: $200,000 – $1,000,000 ($200,000 per courtyard, apply for 1-5 courtyards)

Eligibility:

• Live in the United States or British Columbia
• Are not enrolled as a visual arts student as of March 2024
• Do not have an active project with ArtsWA
• Are not a staff or Board member of ArtsWA, DSHS, or WSH

Description:

• We seek artists or artist teams who have lived experience with mental illness to design and create artwork for the patient courtyards at Western State Hospital’s new forensic hospital.

• The chosen artist(s) should be able to design artwork that is culturally sensitive and considerate of the patient experience. We seek artworks that will engage patients and aid recovery.

• We are interested in artworks that could enhance the therapeutic uses of these outdoor spaces, enhancing the hospital’s design theme of “a walk in the park”. Artworks will need to adhere to strict patient safety criteria. They must be resistant to damage but could invite passive interaction through sensory experiences, texture, pathways, seating, reflection, light/shadow play, etc.

• Artists from Nisqually, Steilacoom, Puyallup, Cowlitz, Coast Salish, and/or the other tribes of the Pacific Northwest are encouraged to apply.

• Washington state’s vision of transforming behavioral health includes constructing a therapeutically designed hospital on the Western State Hospital campus with 350 beds to care for forensic patients in a modern facility. The new forensic hospital will serve patients who enter care through the criminal court system.