Piedmont Columbus Regional Children’s Hospital
Columbus, Georgia
- Healthcare
- Southeast
- Art curation
- Piedmont Healthcare, 2WR + Partners
The collection was curated to enhance wayfinding, engagement, and a sense of comfort.
Collection criteria: calming, natural, whimsical, optimistic, and playful
The majority of the artworks were created by women.
Artwork nods to local plants and animals, including the rare Shoal Spider Lily flower and the Eastern Box Turtle.
The Story
The Bill and Olivia Amos Children’s Hospital at Piedmont Columbus Regional is the only freestanding children’s hospital in west Georgia and east Alabama, offering state-of-the-art pediatric healthcare. To enhance the healing environment, we curated a vibrant art collection that brings the outdoors in through whimsical narratives and natural motifs, meanwhile complementing the hospital’s architecture and interior design. Consisting of commissioned originals and print works by regional and international artists, the collection creates a calming, optimistic atmosphere for patients, visitors, and staff.
Signature commissions include digital illustrations by John Patrick Thomas and Gina Tew, as well as two custom sculptures by Georgia-based studio Imagination Fabrications. Patrick Thomas’ color-coded designs were translated into custom wall coverings for each floor, integrated with animal motifs to support visitor wayfinding. His artwork enriches the ground level, elevator banks, and key transition points, reinforcing the interior design by 2WR + Partners.
- Ground Floor: Green Squirrel
- First Floor: Orange Lizard
- Second Floor: Blue Turtle
- Fourth Floor: Red Fox
- Fifth Floor: Yellow Hummingbird
Gina Tew’s illustrations were adapted for the hospital’s lobby niches, incorporating local flora and fauna to celebrate the region’s biodiversity. One of the murals features the rare Shoal Spider Lily, a recently revitalized flower that had previously faced extinction, symbolizing the hospital’s mission of healing and resilience. Additionally, Tew designed a digital installation for the hospital’s “portal doors,” visually marking the transition from care to surgery with a flowing river motif to evoke calmness.
The sculptures by Imagine Fabrications can be found in the hospital’s lobby, including a replica of the Children’s Miracle Network logo and playful turtle installation serving as the hospital’s “mascot” and nodding to the Eastern Box Turtle native to South Georgia. The artist even owns 3 of these turtles himself! Additional turtle motifs act as “easter eggs” that can be found throughout the hospital, supporting a sense of discovery and awe for young patients.
With large windows bringing in natural light and artworks that reflect the surrounding landscape, the Bill and Olivia Amos Children’s Hospital is a space where nature, creativity, and healthcare come together to create a comforting environment for the community’s youngest patients. By integrating art with architecture and design, this project underscores the power of thoughtful placemaking to infuse healthcare spaces with healing and hope.
Photos courtesy of 2WR + Partners and Harlan Hambright
