Solitary Iceberg (2020), Sunlit Sky (2019), Whirlpool (2022), and After the Storm (2022) by Ooloosie Saila. Installed in inpatient client rooms at Casey House.
Casey House is thrilled to share that four artworks by Inuit artist Ooloosie Saila now adorn the walls of four inpatient rooms, thanks to generous support from Yabu Pushelberg. Casey House inpatient clients frequently spend several weeks here resting and healing; however, the focus isn’t just on physical health during an inpatient stay. We strive to foster overall well-being by creating a serene environment for healing. Given our longstanding connection to the art world, we are delighted to bring artwork into inpatient client rooms.
George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, renowned Canadian interior designers became entranced/learned about/fell in love with Ooloosie Saila’s work when they bought Composition (Isolated Iceberg) at our annual art auction fundraiser, Art With Heart in 2019 and later saw Island Landscapes I in 2022. Saila is from Cape Dorset, Nunavut, and has had work in Art With Heart five times courtesy of Feheley Fine Arts gallery. Saila’s work left a lasting impression on George and Glenn; they are inspired by her use of colour and soaring landscapes. Moreover, as longtime Casey House supporters, they began to think deeply about how HIV disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities across Canada.
Yabu Pushelberg collaborated with RxArt, a nonprofit that integrates artwork into hospitals, to acquire four of Saila’s pieces for Casey House: Sunlit Sky (2019), Solitary Iceberg (2020), Whirlpool (2022), and After the Storm (2022). Installation began in August 2025 and great care was taken to reproduce the artwork with a material that could be regularly sanitized between admissions according to hospital standards. Meanwhile, we consulted our Indigenous Advisory committee throughout the acquisition process. They suggested that our clients, who span across all different racial, sexual, gender, and spiritual identities, may wish to see art personally relevant to them in the inpatient rooms. As a result, we installed these four with plans to add work from other artists to the remaining ten inpatient rooms.
The inclusion of artwork complements the intentional design of our inpatient client rooms. The 14 private rooms were designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects with the patient experience in mind. Creating a comfortable space that could act as a client’s “home away from home” was crucial for the Hariri Pontarini team. Each of the rooms includes a closet with hangers, cable television, windows with ample light, a seating area, wall-set wood panels that store bedside medical equipment when not in use, and private washrooms with accessible showers. While someone is admitted to our inpatient unit, doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, a physiotherapist, a occupational therapist, and social workers provide onsite support. Our kitchen services team provides three meals a day delivered to each client during their inpatient stay, so they can be nourished with delicious homecooked food while they heal. When a client is admitted to Casey House, we hope that they feel the warmth and ease that comes from our purposeful design and personalized care services.
With these new art installations, we are able to further elevate the inpatient experience to make our House feel even more like a home. Now, inpatient clients staying in these four rooms can enjoy beautiful landscapes from the comfort of their beds, even when the real skies are cloudy outside their window. Our thanks to George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg for bringing this vision to light. We look forward to adding more artwork to the remaining ten inpatient rooms.
December 18, 2025
New artwork installed in inpatient client rooms
Solitary Iceberg (2020), Sunlit Sky (2019), Whirlpool (2022), and After the Storm (2022) by Ooloosie Saila. Installed in inpatient client rooms at Casey House.
Casey House is thrilled to share that four artworks by Inuit artist Ooloosie Saila now adorn the walls of four inpatient rooms, thanks to generous support from Yabu Pushelberg. Casey House inpatient clients frequently spend several weeks here resting and healing; however, the focus isn’t just on physical health during an inpatient stay. We strive to foster overall well-being by creating a serene environment for healing. Given our longstanding connection to the art world, we are delighted to bring artwork into inpatient client rooms.
George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, renowned Canadian interior designers became entranced/learned about/fell in love with Ooloosie Saila’s work when they bought Composition (Isolated Iceberg) at our annual art auction fundraiser, Art With Heart in 2019 and later saw Island Landscapes I in 2022. Saila is from Cape Dorset, Nunavut, and has had work in Art With Heart five times courtesy of Feheley Fine Arts gallery. Saila’s work left a lasting impression on George and Glenn; they are inspired by her use of colour and soaring landscapes. Moreover, as longtime Casey House supporters, they began to think deeply about how HIV disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities across Canada.
Yabu Pushelberg collaborated with RxArt, a nonprofit that integrates artwork into hospitals, to acquire four of Saila’s pieces for Casey House: Sunlit Sky (2019), Solitary Iceberg (2020), Whirlpool (2022), and After the Storm (2022). Installation began in August 2025 and great care was taken to reproduce the artwork with a material that could be regularly sanitized between admissions according to hospital standards. Meanwhile, we consulted our Indigenous Advisory committee throughout the acquisition process. They suggested that our clients, who span across all different racial, sexual, gender, and spiritual identities, may wish to see art personally relevant to them in the inpatient rooms. As a result, we installed these four with plans to add work from other artists to the remaining ten inpatient rooms.
The inclusion of artwork complements the intentional design of our inpatient client rooms. The 14 private rooms were designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects with the patient experience in mind. Creating a comfortable space that could act as a client’s “home away from home” was crucial for the Hariri Pontarini team. Each of the rooms includes a closet with hangers, cable television, windows with ample light, a seating area, wall-set wood panels that store bedside medical equipment when not in use, and private washrooms with accessible showers. While someone is admitted to our inpatient unit, doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, a physiotherapist, a occupational therapist, and social workers provide onsite support. Our kitchen services team provides three meals a day delivered to each client during their inpatient stay, so they can be nourished with delicious homecooked food while they heal. When a client is admitted to Casey House, we hope that they feel the warmth and ease that comes from our purposeful design and personalized care services.
With these new art installations, we are able to further elevate the inpatient experience to make our House feel even more like a home. Now, inpatient clients staying in these four rooms can enjoy beautiful landscapes from the comfort of their beds, even when the real skies are cloudy outside their window. Our thanks to George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg for bringing this vision to light. We look forward to adding more artwork to the remaining ten inpatient rooms.
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