CAMH is excited to announce the winners of its Therapeutic Art Initiative. This accessible and rigorous art program brings 50+ diverse art forms into the hospital’s two new buildings on its Queen Street site – the Waverley House Secure Care & Recovery Building and the Temerty Discovery Centre.
As Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world’s leading research centres, CAMH’s redevelopment is focused on improving the facilities where patients receive care and enhancing infrastructure to support cutting-edge research. The integration of art is central to this work. Artwork was embedded into each building’s design to ensure our buildings provide a supportive ecosystem for patient care, inspire hope, support wayfinding through visual cues, and reflect CAMH’s drive for innovation and discovery. Artists worked closely with an art consultant, as well as patients and clinical staff, to create artworks that contribute to a healing and dignified environment, honour the lands on which CAMH is located, and ensure therapeutic art is accessible to all community members.
“What makes this project unique is that art is integrated into the building's construction and finishes. This means that artworks were included in the initial vision and design development, placing this initiative at the core of our redevelopment efforts,” shares Kent Heise, Director of Operational Readiness and Clinical Lead during the design stages of the Waverley House Secure Care and Recovery Building. “Especially within our forensics programs, many patients spend extended periods in care, and these artworks offer moments of ease, supporting mood, reducing stress, and enhancing the overall care experience for patients and their families.”
A rigorous and inclusive artist selection process
The initiative followed a transparent, artist-centered selection process that began with an open call for Expressions of Interest in July 2022. In response, we received close to 100 submissions from both established and emerging Canadian artists, including individuals with lived experience. Applications were reviewed by a jury of art professionals and the CAMH Artist Selection Panel (CASP), composed of a number of CAMH staff, clients and other stakeholders from across the organization.
All artworks were carefully evaluated, with particular sensitivity to imagery, colour, and location, ensuring the designs promote healing, are non-triggering, and reflect the spaces and communities where CAMH operates. The works incorporate themes of nature and the natural world, reflect lived experiences, and use calming palettes and forms to instill a sense of comfort, belonging, and safety. The artworks also promote inclusivity, allowing visitors, staff and patients to see themselves reflected in the works.
"It has been an insightful process working with the people of CAMH over the last few years, and I am grateful to feel that my work will contribute to a community as well as to a care facility," says Tessa Shank, a CAMH commissioned artist living in Toronto and at her community at the Nipissing First Nation. "I know that the integrated therapeutic art throughout the new CAMH facilities will transform the way we approach healing, and I hope that the impact of using art as a vital tool will lead to a shift in the system and encourage more hospitals and care facilities to embrace art as part of the healing process. My intentions for the artwork I am creating for CAMH are to fill these spaces with a connection to nature, impart a feeling of optimism, and embody a hopeful spirit."
The initiative brings a range of welcoming, culturally inclusive art to CAMH's Queen Street site. These include large-scale permanent installations, such as carved granite erratic boulders using stone excavated from our site and carved by noted First Nations artist Michael Belmore, as well as urban-scale artwork integrated into the external cladding of Waverley House. Other major installations are integrated into glass and wall coverings in care and clinical spaces. The ceiling feature in the Community space was developed through a co-creation process, with the artist collaborating with CAMH staff and patients to reflect the community and instill a sense of collective ownership and belonging.
About CAMH’s historic redevelopment
This fourth and final stage of CAMH’s redevelopment includes the construction of the Temerty Discovery Centre, a state-of-the-art research facility opening in 2027, and the Waverley House Secure Care & Recovery Building, which will replace current forensic facilities for patients with complex mental illnesses who have encountered the legal system. This building is expected to open in 2029.
At Waverley House, special consideration was given to ensure works support moments of calm, encourage therapeutic relationships, and balance privacy, safety, and a welcoming experience. Artists met specific requirements to ensure concepts resonate with the populations served, avoiding harsh colours, sensitive subject matter, and abrasive techniques. At the Temerty Discovery Centre, artists created works that support the healing process and/ or reflect the spirit of knowledge discovery and brain science. Pieces are intended to inspire hope, collaboration, and fortitude, while also aligning with principles of sustainable design and infrastructure.
CAMH extends its sincere thanks to the artists, jury members, and donors whose contributions made this initiative possible, and vision and generosity have helped transform these spaces into welcoming, healing environments for all.
Meet the winners
Waverley House Secure Care and Recovery Building
Rebecca Baird, Michael Belmore, Jorian Charlton, Meaghan Hyckie*, Gaye Jackson, Laura Kay Keeling, Danielle Kerr, Bareket Kezwer, Jimmy Limit, Caroline Macfarlane, Alex McLeod, Marlene Hilton Moore, Akshata Naik, Tessa Shank, Jordan Sook*, Brandon Vickerd, Jason Zante
Temerty Discovery Centre
Patrick Bermingham, Annie Briard, Cathy Chan, Douglas Coupland, Dorian FitzGerald, Jay Havens, Hua Jin, Jyhling Lee, Malcolm Pate, Jason Rouleau, Elisa Yon
*These artists have artwork in both buildings
About the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital and a world leading research centre in this field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental illness and addiction. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit camh.ca or follow @CAMHnews on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
