Nota Editorial — Soraya Alcalá
Editorial Note — Soraya Alcalá
Hospital of Emotions reclaims a historic Los Angeles medical building and reframes it as a site where art becomes both interpretation and evidence. The intervention of 70 artists across 80 rooms does more than activate an abandoned hospital: it restores the emotional weight of a space shaped by real human stories. By transforming clinical corridors into immersive environments, the exhibition challenges the audience to reconsider how memory, vulnerability, and creativity coexist. Projects of this scale remind us that culture is not decoration — it is a precise instrument for understanding who we are, what we carry, and what remains after the world changes around us.
© Soraya Alcalá · Original Editorial Note
A groundbreaking exhibition by House of Art and Dreams brings 70 artists to St. Vincent Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA –
This May, Hospital of Emotions opens inside a former wing of St. Vincent Medical Center, transforming one of Los Angeles’ most historic hospital sites into a fully immersive, large-scale art experience. Presented by House of Art and Dreams, ROYVA Group, and the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, and curated by House of Art and Dreams, the exhibition reimagines the building, now part of the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, as a space shaped by artists, where emotion is experienced through environment, scale, and imagination. Unlike a traditional exhibition, Hospital of Emotions uses the hospital itself as material.
“Hospital of Emotions begins with the space itself. A hospital is where we confront fear, but also recognize what matters. Here, the building becomes a journey through human emotion—shifting the focus from treating the body to experiencing and processing emotion,” says the curatorial team at House of Art and Dreams.
Spanning four floors, the exhibition brings together more than 70 artists and designers, each given a single hospital room and one directive: create an environment around a human emotion. The result is 80 fully realized spaces exploring states such as love, fear, hope, anger, and joy. Visitors move through the building room by room, stepping into distinct emotional worlds that range from intimate to expansive, surreal to unexpectedly playful.
Patient rooms, operating areas, corridors, and nurses’ stations remain intact, carrying the memory of what the space once was. Long considered one of the first hospitals in Los Angeles, St. Vincent Medical Center is currently transitioning into the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus.
The exhibition takes place during this shift, occupying the space between what the building was and what it is becoming, adding immediacy and real-world context to an exhibition centered on how we feel, connect, and process through art.
At a moment when Los Angeles is charged with energy and change, Hospital of Emotions offers something immediate and shared—a place to experience a full spectrum of feeling through art. Designed for a broad audience, the exhibition balances immersive environments with moments of lightness, curiosity, and reflection.
Select rooms are developed in collaboration with nonprofit partners, including The People Concern and USAVEST, organizations working across mental health, veteran services, and housing insecurity. These partnerships ground the exhibition in lived experience and extend the dialogue beyond the traditional gallery model.
Participating Artists
Mônica Lóss, Lenny Gerard, David Otis Johnson, Anna Matsumoto, Bhumikorn Kongtaveelert, Javiera Estrada, Heather Bellino, Evan Wood, Lisa Waud, Jonathan Elkies, Kunna Haan, Rebecca Ann Carver, Olivia Barrionuevo-Minkin, Allison Reber, Yaara Sachs, Nathalie Auzepy, Dioz, Margüi, Madeline Verbica, DAK (David A. Knudsen), Caratoes, Dr. Maryam Trebeau, Kim Farbota, Pablo Thomas, Heriberto Gomes, Tommii Limx, Tara Rey, Michael Keppler, Alex Kemp, Alon Cohen Raz, Miran Nudell, Amit Greenberg, NYCHOS, Gil Hayun, Oshri Elmorich, Krisia “Kiki” Powell, Mariell Guzman, John F. Malta, Jeremy Wojchihosky, Nellie Xie, Moran Sanderovich, Natalia Pavlova, Napo, KASEMONSTER, Corrie Sullivan, It’s A Living, Greg Corbino, Dmitry Kemell, Michelle Lougee, Christoph Florin, Tyler Goldfarb, Mark Girgis, Ginger Pearson, Scene Shift Collective, Adam Kyron Murillo, Leslie K. Monroy, Ray Karam, Sayoko Osada, Santa Gross, Elif Sezgin, Kara Greenwell, Sandra Monty, Tim Schwartz, Grisha Stepanyan, Kamil Czapiga, Rose Zhang, Paal Anand, Dongpu Ling, Mads Christensen, Emily Strange, Almog Sachs.
Exhibition Details
Opening Date May 27, 2026
Closing Date July 31, 2026
Location 2131 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Tickets and Information
General Admission $55
Child 4 to 12 $45, under 4 free
Student and Senior 65 plus $48
Veterans $42
Limited Early Admission $45
Tickets: www.hospitalofemotions.com
