Eddie Dominguez, professor in the School of Art, Art History and Design, recently completed a two-segment public art project for Bryan Health Systems to commemorate the community’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 12-foot-by-22-foot mosaic mural located at Bryan East includes a cluster of clouds with words submitted by hospital staff, who were asked to reflect on their experiences during the pandemic. The second work, located at Bryan West, includes three nine-foot pillars with mosaics. The first has geometric patterns featuring colors and shapes. The second is a sky with eagles, swans and flowers cascading into a lower landscape. The third includes more of the collected words on clouds.
“They had put a call out that they were interested in looking for an artist that would do a COVID memorial to honor the first responders at the hospital,” Dominguez said. “I don’t generally respond to calls like that, but when I saw this, there was a calling — a feeling that I had about the way I function in public art work projects, and I thought this was a venue for that philosophy, so I went ahead and applied.”
Bob Ravenscroft, system vice president and chief marketing and development officer at Bryan Health, said shortly after the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine and between surges of hospital utilization, they were approached by a handful of people with an affinity for art who were interested in funding a permanent “thank you” for what they called “the heroic effort of our team.” Bryan Health wanted something that would be meaningful to their team since they saw thousands of patients at both Bryan East and Bryan West campuses.
“Eddie responded to the RFP, and his proposal easily emerged as the best concept,” Ravenscroft said. “Eddie suggested commissioning sculptures that would very directly incorporate the voice of our team, engaging with doctors, nurses and support staff that cared for critically ill and dying patients and what they felt during this challenging time.
“The sculptures turned out beautifully. We often see staff and visitors reflecting on the words embedded in the beautiful tile work. While it was created to memorialize efforts here in Nebraska during a worldwide pandemic, it seems to work for just about any feeling people have when they or a loved one is hospitalized and for those who work every day to care for them.”
The project offered a different way for Dominguez to engage with the community.
“The hospital gave me all of the vocabulary that I used in the image, so in that way, it was community engaged without people being physically connected to the work, and I was satisfied with that,” Dominguez said.
He also worked with six University of Nebraska–Lincoln students throughout the two-year project, including two who were not art majors.
“I had a nice range of people, and we had a real nice time learning all about how to make it work together,” Dominguez said. “I think they really loved it and got invested in it. We all bonded in a really beautiful way.”
Clouds are featured in both pieces, which was an inspiration for Dominguez.
“I think that when we look up into the sky, there’s always this kind of optimism and hope,” he said. “And when we look up at the clouds, they’re fleeting and drifting. I’ve always had a thing for clouds. I put the words in the clouds, and I think it kind of feels like sending up prayers. There’s a native philosophy like that when people look up into the sky. And maybe it wasn’t completely my intention, but you allow the creativity to express itself, and this is how it came out. I have a garden at the bottom, and then the clouds falling out of that. I think they’re really pretty beautiful images, and they have a lot of sentiment.”
Dominguez had his own health issues during the making of the pieces and found himself in and out of hospitals at times throughout the process.
“I felt like I was in it physically,” he said. “It’s odd how that worked out, but I began to understand by being in these situations what the staff did, what the nurses did, what everybody’s job was and how meaningful and important everybody’s positions are in hospitals. I was grateful to witness that with a greater understanding because I think that it fed this project.”
Being a part of this project meant a lot to Dominguez, especially since it was an opportunity to give back to the community.
“This provided an opportunity for me to do that — to leave something for my community that I’m a part of,” he said. “And the hospital is just a few blocks from my house, so it even felt like it was in my neighborhood. It was a rewarding feeling. And that’s why I think public art is important because we can generate community interest in it, through it, with it.”
Allison Achtenhagen (Bachelor of Fine Arts 2023) worked on the pieces with Dominguez from August 2022 to July 2023. She is now an artist-in-residence at the Kansas City Clay Guild.
“I’d briefly had one or two conversations with Eddie prior to him approaching me to work on this project,” she said. “I’d seen the beginning of it through social media, and it looked absolutely amazing, so when I was given the opportunity to become a part of it, it was an easy yes.
“I worked on this project with him throughout my senior year, which was a time of huge change, big decisions and questioning what comes next for me, so being able to talk with Eddie as we worked and get his perspective and opinions was life-changing. I also loved watching him navigate all of the issues that came up throughout this process and feeling like he trusted us to help in those trickier moments.”
Luke Keilig, a senior art major, has worked with Dominguez through UCARE for two years.
“I was involved from the start of the making process,” he said. “I helped glaze tiles, fired them in the kiln and helped sort them into the design he envisioned. I also helped during the installation process. Working with Eddie was an experience I will never forget. He is a unique and caring individual who cares deeply about the community and his students. I learned a lot about ceramics, but he has also taught me things about life and even cooking.”
While the words within the works are expressions from the pandemic, they are are universal, too, Dominguez said.
“Like all poetry or language, it can have several meanings,” he said. “Maybe the umbrella was that it was a memorial to the COVID experience, but I think it was also speaking to what goes on in a hospital. I was really grateful to have the opportunity to do it. I got more out of it than I could have imagined.”
