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A new sculpture, titled “Blossom,” by artist Kent Hutchison was installed at Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay on August 8. The piece is a 16-foot blossoming flower made of welded corten (AKA weathering steel) and is located in the Vince Lombardi Cancer Care Center Garden. “Blossom” features a blown glass stamen equipped with LED lighting, illuminating the center of the sculpture.

Kim Pigeon, owner of KMP Arts, organized the project. She says that the garden was installed outside of the Cancer Care Center’s windows “so that their patients could get a little respite” from the challenges of treatment.

The sculpture will transform over time, providing a beautiful and interesting focal point to the garden. “It is meant to patina afterwards so it has a rusty, greenish-red look so it blends into the environment that it’s in,” Pigeon explains.

The sculpture holds deeper significance as a symbol for the observer and its particular audience: the patients of the Cancer Care Center. “I was thinking about and trying to maintain themes that would readily be taken from the piece,” Hutchison says, noting ideas of rejuvenation, peace and hope, to “help people reflect on the possibility of peace and the possibility of new life.”

Hutchison’s artistic philosophy emphasizes the importance of art to reach something deep within ourselves, saying, “I think art has the ability to tap into our mind, body and soul in a way that nothing else can do.” Hutchison believes that “through art people can learn more about themselves and things that they haven’t thought about before. Art has the ability to tug on those strings in our mind that nothing really does.”

“Blossom,” with its reflections on rejuvenation and life, brings some beauty and inspiration into the patients’ journeys. “The sculpture is about rebirth and hope,” Pigeon says, “and we hope that patients will reflect on that and that it will have a positive impact on their healing.”