Being at a hospital can bring with it an array of negative emotions such as fear and anxiety, and Dr. William Lutin understands it well.
“Patients, families and staff are in a high-stress situation. Anything that lifts you out of that and gives you a minute of respite is a good thing,” said Lutin, a retired pediatric cardiologist who found those moments of respite early in his career in seashell prints.
Stationed outside the radiology department on the second floor of Wellstar MCG Health Medical Center, photographs of seashell x-rays would greet Lutin daily on his walk into work in the early 1990s and lead to the creation of the Healing Arts Wall, where artists have displayed their works since around 2012.
“It would bring a smile to your face,” said Lutin of the seashells.
He has always been interested in photography and started carrying a camera with him long before they were in cellphones. His first job involved developing photographs of chromosomes in the hospital.
Nature photography has always appealed to him.
“People are too hard; (sometimes), they blink; they sneeze,” he said.
Most of his shots are of landscapes or animals, but he made an exception when he photographed the children who participated in the hospital’s annual children’s heart camp of which he was the physician in attendance. Seeing their faces, doing the challenging things such as a ropes course made for impactful moments he caught on film.
Since retiring, he’s taken his camera around the world to get photographs getting landscapes in Greece and birds in the Netherlands. He often displays his work at the hospital, and he always tries to use different photographs.
Some of his favorite photographic moments have included shooting pictures of the western states highlighting the landscape’s unique features as well as taking photographs of bears fishing in Alaska.
The animals are massive, but they can catch fish in seconds and look like they are at play when they are doing it. When they are done, “they shake the water off like a dog, starting with their head,” he said.
Lutin’s current exhibition of works is on display through the end of August.
Michael Fiedler who has overseen the gallery for about two years, said they are always on the lookout for artists who might be interested in displaying their works at the hospital.
The second-floor space is one space of the hospital with art, but he said they are looking at strategic areas to expand into.
All the work is for sale, but Fiedler said the main purpose is to bring color and life into the space.
“Traditional hospitals are such a sterile environment. Thanks to this program, ours is not,” he said.
Any artist interested in finding out more about the program should email Wmcg_pfcc@wellstar.org.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
