SIERRA VISTA — The walls within the DaVita Dialysis building are much like those of any other medical facility.
They’re a whole lot of white, spotlighted by rows of fluorescent lights and chalky tile floors. Walls are are dotted with a few framed photos and other small pieces of artwork that workers and nurses have put up here and there to help soften the colorless atmosphere.
From left, Dominica Baker, Al Kogel, Ho Milosevic and Hyang Wadeck
Since 1993, DaVita Dialysis has served patients next to what is now the old Walmart building in Sierra Vista. Early this month, its interior received a big splash of color when eight Cochise College painting students brought in their work to hang above the row of chairs that line the far west wall, which spans 68 feet.
For those students, it was a labor of love.
“We hope to help make sick people happy,” said Hyang Wadeck, one of four students who collaborated in creating koi fish paintings for the wall. “We wanted to help the people who sit there be comfortable while they go through treatment.”
The nurses and patients in the building couldn’t be more pleased with the art installation, not only because there’s something nice to look at during work hours, but also because they’re excited help create a bridge between members of the community and the college’s art department.
“This is definitely a somewhat sterile environment, as it should be,” laughed Danielle Schneeweis. “This warms it up, and displaying the art students’ talent is wonderful. Plus, it adds something for students to the able to do something for the community. It’s a great gift to the patients.”
Medical facilities have used art to help liven up rooms for years. Jackie Shea, who now works at DaVita and went to nursing school at Cochise College, pushed for the longtime Sierra Vista facility to go further with the idea.
“A whole mural would have cost thousands of dollars, so I thought I’d go to Cochise to see if there was anything their students might want to do,” Shea said. “A mural would have required bringing supplies there every time, and just wasn’t feasible, so they decided on eight paintings for the back wall and putting them up as an installation. I love them. They’re beautiful.”
The west wall of DaVita Dialysis in Sierra Vista.
Al Kogel, an art instructor at Cochise College, pulled together students in two art classes for the project, which, in addition to Wadeck, included Marissa Taylor, Joengeun Park, Dominica Baker, Jesse Davis, Ho Milosevic, Elena Feliciano and Sean Farmer. Thomas M. Clark made the frames for each painting.
Although the art department rarely receives these kinds of requests, Kogel said he has worked with painting and design classes for past projects in hospitals and a homeless shelter.
“During one of my sabbaticals, I studied and finished an internship to get certified as an art therapist,” Kogel said. “So during different years, I get interested in either working with kids or doing community projects.”
DaVita is a nationwide company that provides dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end-stage renal disease. The facility in Sierra Vista is one of 1,777 in the United States. Its name is Italian for “giving life.”
Schneeweis said patients come through the facility three times a week and stay for treatment anywhere between two-and-a-half and five hours.
“They need this to survive,” she said. “And these (paintings) are a great inspiration. They’re warm. They’re comforting. It’s something to add some color and flair.