{"id":12986,"date":"2018-11-30T18:05:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T18:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/houston-methodists-mosaic-of-medicine\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T15:04:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:04:41","slug":"houston-methodists-mosaic-of-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/houston-methodists-mosaic-of-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Methodist’s mosaic of medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"
The atrium of Houston Methodist<\/a>\u2019s Paula and Joseph C. \u201cRusty\u201d Walter III Tower is dominated by a massive retro mosaic that runs along an interior wall.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are about one and a half million tiles ranging from the size of your thumbnail to the size of your small fingernail,\u201d said Sidney Sanders, senior vice president for construction, facilities design and real estate management at Houston Methodist Hospital.<\/p>\n More than 90 feet wide and 16 feet high, the massive mural captures a story of medicine and faith in rich blues, oranges, greens and yellows. The piece, Extending Arms of Christ<\/em>, is more than 50 years old.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mosaic, I felt, was special,\u201d said Ewing Werlein, Senior Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and former chairman of the Houston Methodist Hospital Board. \u201cIt symbolizes Houston Methodist as a Christian health care institution, extending care to all people.\u201d<\/p>\n The mosaic positions Christ in the center, arms outstretched. To the left is Hippocrates<\/a>, a Greek physician often regarded as the father of medicine; Galen<\/a>, a physician and writer who became a famed doctorin the Roman Empire; and Florence Nightingale<\/a>, the founder of modern nursing. To the right is a surgical theater, a microscope, X-rays and pharmaceuticals, representing medical advancements through the middle of the 20th century.<\/p>\n Extending Arms of Christ<\/em> was created in 1963 by artist Bruce Hayes, fabricated in Florence, Italy, and then installed on the exterior western face of Houston Methodist Hospital on Fannin Street. As the hospital grew over the years, though, the mosaic became largely hidden to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the \u201980s, we expanded the drop off area, built Dunn Tower in 1989 and we put in a large covered entrance so patients could come and go in a protected environment,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThe result of that was the mosaic, which was right above that, was obscured. … The oak trees on Fannin Street also matured and it became out of sight, out of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n