Artist Hamilton Glass (Photo by Doug Buerlein)
Notable physicians who played a critical role in the history of Richmond Community Hospital have been honored with an art project at the Bon Secours Center for Healthy Living Sarah Garland Jones Center on Nine Mile Road in Richmond.
Mixed-media portraits of 21 African-American doctors have been installed as a Legacy Wall in tribute to their work. Richmond artist Hamilton Glass and ART 180 alumni created the portraits, which feature attention-grabbing bright colors and geometric shapes.
A closer look at the Legacy Wall (Photo by Doug Buerlein)
A list of the honorees and a bit about them can be found below.
Richmond Community Hospital, which traces its roots to a facility founded in the early 1900s, played a key role in meeting the health needs of African-Americans in Richmond during the era of segregation. Legacy Wall portraits honor some of the doctors who led the way when the hospital opened a new facility in 1980, at its current location in the East End. Bon Secours, which commissioned the artwork, acquired the facility in 1995.
The Legacy Wall is at a facility named for a key player in the founding of Community Hospital. Sarah Garland Jones earned her medical degree in the late 1800s, the first African-American and woman in Virginia to become a licensed physician.
Glass discussed the project in a phone interview on Wednesday from Washington, D.C., where he is working on another project. He says he was aware of the history of Community Hospital, but knew nothing previously about the careers and accomplishments of the 21 physicians portrayed on the wall. “That was definitely eye-opening,” he says.
The works and the geometric shapes and bold colors are reflective of his paintings and murals. The portraits were crafted over eight weeks, with a goal of creating works that were bright, vibrant and got the message across; very simple portraits, but very colorful and very appealing, he says. “It’s very simple, it’s very clean,” he says. “It kind of lends itself to the city.”
Exterior displays of public art have a different language than art intended for galleries or for, say, hanging in the lobby of a public building. It’s more than the work itself; it’s considering the surroundings, and who will be consuming the work. “For one, it belongs to the public,” says Glass. “Murals and public art [are] something to be experienced.”
Glass says he’s always on the lookout for a chance to create a work that caters to the community. “When I heard about this opportunity, it made sense,” he says.
LEGACY WALL PHYSICIANS
- Walton Belle: A chief of staff and chief of surgery for Richmond Community Hospital, he gave money to cover initial operating expenses for the facility for its 1980 move to its current site in the East End.
- Lillie Bennett: Pediatrician, made financial contributions to the new facility
- Elwood Boone: The urologist was a supporter of the move to the new facility.
- Lewis Boone: An obstetrician and gynecologist and brother of Elwood Boone, he provided financial help to cover a shortage in the initial operating budget.
- Theodore R. Coots Brown: The family practitioner provided his expertise and financial help to construct the new facility.
- James Campbell: The radiologist provided financial help for construction, along with his wife, Dr. Joyce Whitaker.
- Wesley Carter: The psychiatrist was an enthusiastic financial supporter of the project.
- Harry Crawford: A general surgeon, he provided financial support toward the initial operating costs for the East End facility.
- Halstead Howell: The general surgeon provided support for initial operating costs.
- John Howlette: The first African-American to practice optometry in Richmond, with a practice that opened in 1952 in Jackson Ward
- Reginald Jackson: A radiologist and a leading proponent for construction of a new facility in the East End
- Bernice Latham: A family practitioner, she was a financial contributor when the initial budget came up short.
- Wiley Latham: A gastroenterologist and the husband of Bernice Latham, he also helped financially to make up for initial budget shortfalls.
- Frank Royal: The family practitioner partnered with Walton Belle in creating an ICU unit at the East End facility, and was a champion of the hospital's partnership with Bon Secours in 1995.
- Harry Royal: The twin brother of Frank Royal and an obstetrician gynecologist, he was a financial backer who helped cover initial operating costs for the facility.
- Lindley Smith: An ophthalmologist who, according to a press release on the exhibit, "respects Richmond Community Hospital for its age, its history and its tradition of caring for those less fortunate"
- Charles Sutton: A family practitioner who "guaranteed to cover any outstanding gaps within the budget" after learning that the bank loan would not cover initial operating costs
- Valvin Sutton: An internal medicine practitioner and supporter of the East End facility
- William Thornton: A podiatrist and financial contributor to the project
- Joyce Whitaker: Pediatrician and wife of Dr. James Campell, and a contributor to the East End hospital project
- Everett White: A financial contributor and a family practitioner
Source: Bon Secours
