On October 26,2024, an art exhibition was held at Kyushu University Beppu Hospital (Tsurumi, Beppu City, Oita Prefecture). Beppu Hospital was renovated in March 2024. It is a wonderful hospital where patients can see the sea or mountains from the hospital rooms and there are hot springs. Koshi Mimori, the director of Beppu Hospital, has been working hard to incorporate art with the aim of ‘healing’ patients in the spirit of ‘Percent for Art’ (a portion of construction costs is allocated to art). The Faculty of Design (headed by Professor Akira Omoto, with Professors Kenichi Tanoue and Mikako Tomotari, and Associate Professor Madoka Yuki) was introduced by Tatsuro Ishibashi, President of Kyushu University, to take on the task of managing this project. Around 20 works by local artists and members of the Faculty of Design,Kyushu University have been installed in the hospital to create an ‘art corridor’. As part of this, Tomotari’s sculpture ‘Jamping Wild Dog’, Kanako Iwasaki’s painting ‘Beginning’, and Mahoshi Naito’s two-dimensional work ‘Untitled’ have been added to the permanent collection of the hospital. Director Mimori hopes to continue to work with the faculty and students of the Faculty of Design, Art and Architecture on the research and practice of healing art.
