Matisse-Inspired Sculpture on Display at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
Ode (2025) by Austin Lee is on loan to the hospital, where it will be viewable to the hospital’s thousands of staff, patients, and visitors for the next year Observing a work of art has proven physiological outcomes, including lowering stress, helping process emotions, fostering empathy, and encouraging greater connectedness
Nov 12, 2025
NYC Health + Hospitals’ Arts in Medicine department today announced that a large-scale sculpture, Ode (2025) by Austin Lee, is on display in the atrium of NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. The work is on loan to the hospital from the Mack Art Foundation and will be viewable to the hospital’s thousands of staff, patients, and visitors for the next year. Inspired by La Danse by Henri Matisse, Ode’s bright forms, fluidity, and positive message offer a moment of play and respite. The sculpture temporarily joins the nearly 7,500 works in the health care system’s art collection, which aims to create a calming atmosphere for patients and their families and supportive, healing places for staff. Observing a work of art has proven physiological outcomes, including lowering stress, helping process emotions, fostering empathy, and encouraging greater connectedness. Nearly 900 works of art in NYC Health + Hospitals’ collection are available to view worldwide on the free Bloomberg Connects app, and the works have informational wall text and a QR code leading to additional material on the app.
“Austin Lee’s wonderful Ode brings a vibrant, contemplative presence to Bellevue Hospital, transforming the space into one of emotional resonance and healing,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine Assistant Vice President Larissa Trinder. “Through our Curating for Health platform, this installation reflects our commitment to engaging artists, staff, and patients in creating environments that uplift and connect. I am grateful to Christine Mack and her foundation for identifying this opportunity for our NYC Health + Hospitals community.”
“We are proud to integrate extraordinary works of art into our spaces of healing through our Arts in Medicine program. We thank Christine Mack and the Mack Art Foundation for sharing Austin Lee’s Ode, and the artist for creating a work that uplifts and connects,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Chief Executive Officer Eric Wei, MD, MBA. “This sculpture enriches the healing experience for everyone who comes through Bellevue Hospital.”
“I am honored to share Austin Lee’s Ode with the public at Bellevue Hospital, where it can bring joy to its community,” said Christine Mack, Founder of the Mack Art Foundation. “The sculpture carries a profoundly hopeful message—something we need now more than ever—and shows how art can heal, uplift, and provide comfort in difficult times. Austin Lee is one of today’s leading artists, deeply committed to creating work that inspires people. With Ode, he offers a source of strength and reflection for all who encounter it.”
“Hospitals are full of people looking to others for help and healing,” said artist Austin Lee. “They are deeply emotional places. During a difficult time when I spent months caring for someone in a hospital, I saw how meaningful the artwork there could be. I still remember taking breaks to walk the halls. I found the artwork there would take my mind to another place, allowing for a momentary pause from worried thoughts. My work shares my personal experiences and emotions in symbolic form, offering a place for viewers to project their own feelings and find a shared connection. My hope is that my sculpture Ode can offer a similar sense of comfort and optimism to patients, families, and staff who need it.”
“Public health and public art share the same goal: improving lives and strengthening communities,” said New York State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. “I am happy to join Austin Lee for the ribbon cutting of sculpture Ode at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest hospital in the nation and a world-class center that serves tens of thousands of community members across my district and beyond. This sculpture, inspired by Matisse’s work La Danse, reflects our shared commitment to making Bellevue a place where healing, creativity, and care come together for everyone who walks through its doors. I’m deeply grateful to the Mack Art Foundation for bringing this beautiful work to Bellevue and helping ensure a warm, welcoming environment for all who seek care here.”
Austin Lee (b. 1983) lives and works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Working at small and large scales, the artist saturates his work with glowing, electric hues. Humans, animals, and hybrid creatures are frequent motifs, and Lee understands his compositions and hand-painted structures as animated representations of his own feelings. He studied at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia before receiving his MFA from Yale in 2013. Since then, he has exhibited in New York, Stockholm, London, Paris, Berlin, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, among other cities.
The NYC Health + Hospitals art collection dates back to the 1930s, when the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project hired artists to create works for government buildings. Its collection of more than 7,500 artworks includes paintings, mosaics, photographs, sculptures, installation art, and murals by both emerging and established professional artists. The collection includes works by some of America’s leading artists, such as Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Helen Frankenthaler, Mary Frank, Betty Blayton, Candida Alvarez, Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, and Keith Haring. More than an art collection, these works contribute to healing environments, activate spaces, engage staff, promote visual acuity, and expand access to the arts for 46,000 employees and more than 1.2 million patients who receive care NYC Health + Hospitals facilities.
In addition to managing the health system’s art collection, the Arts in Medicine department presents a diverse array of arts programming, including: live concerts at healthcare facilities through the Music for the Soul Concert series; art observation and discussion for staff through HHArt of Medicine; songwriting with professional musicians for parents through the Lullaby Project; and an active Artists in Residence program. A full overview of the Arts in Medicine department is available here.
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About NYC Health + Hospitals’ Arts in Medicine Department
The Arts in Medicine department at NYC Health + Hospitals seeks to foster the emotional well-being and promote healing and wellness for all patients and their families, employees, and the greater community by utilizing the arts, including literary, visual, and performing arts throughout the health care system. In addition to managing the system’s significant visual arts collection, the Arts in Medicine department encourages evidenced based practices and provides technical assistance to all of the system’s health care facilities and clinics. This is accomplished by combining artistic innovation and education into a comprehensive health care continuum that supports the healing benefits of the arts. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/artsinmedicine.
About NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue is America’s oldest public hospital, established in 1736. Affiliated with the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the 851-bed hospital is a major referral center for highly complex cases, with 6,000 employees including highly skilled, interdisciplinary clinical staff. The hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center and annually it sees about 103,000 emergency room visits, and more than 520,000 outpatient visits. Clinical centers of excellence include: Emergency Medicine and Trauma Care; Cardiovascular Services; Bariatric Surgery; Designated Regional Perinatal Center and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Children’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program; and Cancer Services. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/bellevue and follow us on Facebook and X (Twitter).
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About the Mack Art Foundation
The Mack Art Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to supporting emerging artists and fostering cultural dialogue through residencies, public art projects, and partnerships. Founded by Christine Mack, the foundation offers artists from outside New York City a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in its vibrant art world. Residents are provided with housing, a studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and mentorship – creating the time, space, and guidance needed to develop new work while building meaningful connections with curators, collectors, and cultural institutions.
Extending beyond the residency, the foundation champions art as a catalyst for community and exchange. It commissions site-specific installations, collaborates with leading cultural organizations, and supports initiatives that bring art into public spaces. Through its programs and partnerships, the Mack Art Foundation continues to nurture creativity, expand access, and affirm the essential role of art in shaping vibrant, connected communities.
