Indianapolis City Hospital Project

The Indianapolis City Hospital Project was a public art project in which 16 well-known Indiana artists were commissioned to create murals within the Indianapolis City Hospital. The project was led by William Forsyth and began in 1914.

In 1911, the Indianapolis City Hospital expanded by adding two dedicated patient units. The new buildings were named the Burdsal Units after the benefactor, a wealthy businessman named Alfred Burdsal. St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild, a local women’s volunteer group dedicated to supporting the City Hospital, donated money for the decoration of the new wards. The Guild consulted with Dr. T. Victor Keene, president of the City Board of Health. Keene began talking to local artists, including Wayman Adams, and a large-scale mural project began to develop.

Though the salary was equivalent to union painter wages at the time, many celebrated Indiana artists joined the project in the effort to create a welcoming environment for healing and wellness.William Forsyth was given a position in the project as the project supervisor. During the project, many of the artists lived in the hospital and ate the hospital kitchen’s food to subsidize costs. The Guild, the City Board of Health, and many other donors supported this project at the cost of roughly $10,000. The City Hospital Project opened to the public on November 28, 1914.

Currently only a few of these murals remain on display at Eskenazi Health, including sections of Four Seasons by TC Steele. Many of the other murals were lost or damaged during the multiple remodeling projects on the hospital campus, though there have been several campaigns for conservation and restoration of the murals.

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