[1][3][4][5] The Guild approached the president of the City Board of Health, Dr. T. Victor Keene, who consulted local artists, including Clifton Wheeler and Wayman Adams, and a large-scale mural project began to develop.
[6] Despite the limited budget, these artists committed to completing the project for the wages of a union house painter, approximately $75–100 per month.
[3] William Forsyth, who also served as head of the Herron School of Art, was assigned the position of project supervisor and earned $125–150 per month.
[7] Mural artists collectively selected the rooms, hallways, and wards for their painting and agreed that the work should make use of soothing scenes and tones.
The composition and execution, however, of the various murals were done in toto by the individual artists assigned to that part of the project.” -Dr. T. Victor Keene, President of the City Board of Health[3] The murals, which collectively featured landscapes, portraits, Biblical scenes, and images from children's fairytales, were painted or hung on the upper half of the walls to increase visibility for hospital patients lying in bed.
[11] By 1967, several of the murals had been drilled through, painted over, cut to make doorways, removed, or lost, and imminent renovation plans for the Burdsal units further endangered the collection.
As a result of being adhered to plaster walls, several murals were torn when removed from their original locations, the rips covered in excess with putty and painted over before the works were mounted on masonite panels and framed.
Michael Kaufmann, director of special projects and civic investment for Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County, describes Eskenazi Health's new collection as “approachable and understandable, with themes relevant to the local community that reflect Indiana’s history of art and culture while, in the spirit of public art, respecting the sensibilities of [Eskenazi Health]'s broad base of patients, staff and visitors.”[17] The opening of the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital campus in December 2013 featured a reimagining of the 1914 commissions that compose the historic collection.
[18][19] Hospital architects, Indianapolis-based Blackburn Architects, managed the hospital organization's public art program development,[18][20] which began in 2010 with a nationwide request for qualifications that sought work “to complement the site, architecture and interior design program of the new hospital complex in creating an environment that makes [Eskenazi Health]'s patients feel welcome, facilitates their healing, and reinforces [Eskenazi Health]'s mission and community identity.”[21] The request received more than 500 applicants from 39 states, which were then narrowed to 54 finalists by an independent jury.
[17][22] As with the 1914 commissions, the art committee selected 16 artists to create work that supported “the sense of optimism, vitality, and energy” for the new campus.
[25] Rob Ley's May/September, a 12,000 square foot installation on the exterior of the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital Parking Garage, was a 2015 award recipient.