New sculpture at UK hospital brings hope
October 6, 2011
A new bronze sculpture was added to the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital Sept. 29 to help contribute to the healing environment.
Jackie Hamilton, UK HealthCare’s director of arts, said the sculpture is part of the larger art program.
The purpose of the program is to use art as contribution to the healing environment, she said.
“We felt it was an expression of hope and hopefully inspire our patients and families to feel encouraged,” Hamilton said.
After seeing another edition of the sculpture “Second Breath” at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University, UK Hospital decided to acquire an addition for itself.
The sculpture was created by Maurice Blik, a cancer and Holocaust survivor.
“My inspiration stems from my own experience of having looked death in the face but survived to have a second chance at life,” Blik said.
“Second Breath” is one of nine editions that Blik has made.
“Although physically put together over a period of some months, the sculpture has taken a lifetime of experience to finish,” he said.
Blik came up with the inscription under the sculpture that reads, “the human spirit will always endure.”
“The message is to convey to others the feeling of exhilaration of realizing that one had a second chance of life,” Bilk said. “And as such, I think that the hospital is a particularly appropriate setting.”
Turner Construction Co., which built the UK Hospital, donated the funds for “Second Breath.”
“I think it will bring a feeling of hope,” Hamilton said. “It reminds me of the phoenix rising from death, adversity, pain to a new life, a second chance with a renewed appreciation of life.”
