It may come as a surprise that an art gallery lives within the walls of Women’s College Hospital (WCH). Many of the hospital’s hallways and clinics feature brightly-coloured artwork, rich in both culture and significance. This multi-media collection of Indigenous art, aptly named the Seeds of Change gallery, features photographs, paintings, drawings, textiles and digital art, woven together with connecting themes of wellness, healing and medicine.

The collection was intentionally curated by Indigenous arts leaders Sara Roque and Elwood Jimmy, in collaboration with the Ganawishkadawe Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health (GCWP-IH) at WCH. After spending extensive time in fluorescent exam rooms surrounded by dull, grey walls during her cancer treatment, Sara observed that the spaces intended for healing were often cold and unwelcoming of Indigenous medicines or wellness. Her desire to change this was the beginning of the Seeds of Change collection.

The gallery was created to be a physical symbol of the hospital’s commitment to reconciliation in healthcare. Pieces from the collection have been carefully hung in areas that may cause anxiety for Indigenous patients. Through hosting art that captures First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures, ideologies and traditional medicine, this gallery aims to build cultural safety within WCH’s walls.

Indigenous patients continue to experience disproportionately poor health outcomes due to historical and ongoing stigma and racism within the health system. With the guidance of GCWP-IH, Women’s is working to rebuild trust by creating a space where Indigenous patients feel they can bring their whole identity to their appointments, knowing their voices will be heard and their cultural healing practices will be respected.

The gallery challenges expectations of what healthcare should be. Dr. Lisa Richardson, strategic lead in Indigenous health at WCH, shares, “Having art in a hospital setting is about recognizing that there are multiple dimensions to wellness. This art gallery interrupts what we’ve learned in a colonized health system and reinforces a much broader and holistic concept of wellness, encouraging us to consider what we can learn about wellbeing from other cultures.”

The Seeds of Change gallery signals deeper changes that the hospital has made to improve access to safe care of Indigenous Peoples. Sacred medicine bundles are available at several clinics across the hospital to provide Indigenous patients with access to traditional medicine. First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients can also be referred to see the Traditional Healer and Knowledge Keeper through the hospital’s electronic health record, just as they would any other practitioner at WCH.

“The Seeds of Change gallery is a part of many other commitments that the hospital has made to caring for Indigenous peoples,” says Dr. Richardson. “Indigenous health is embedded as a priority in the hospital’s strategic plan – it's reflected across the institution. It represents a large-scale commitment.”

Embedded within the hospital’s vision of a healthier and more equitable world is an understanding that reconciliation in healthcare is an ongoing journey that requires meaningful and lasting change – and at Women’s, the seeds have been sown.