Dear Friends:

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Friends of University Hospitals have decided to close McMullen Gallery, The Friends Gift Shop, The Heart to Heart Boutique; and to suspend the Atrium Vendor program until further notice. Our Board of directors and management have taken this measure to protect our volunteers, staff, visitors, and most importantly the patients being cared for at the University Of Alberta Hospitals. It is crucial to limit the general public from accessing the hospital for non-medical reasons, and to discourage congregation at this time.

McMullen Gallery Exhibition, “a molecule of perfect” opening March 21, featuring artists Marilyn Olson and Richard Boulet, will still be available for patients and staff to view as a presentation in the window space, until the gallery is able to open fully again. All monthly programs (drumming circles, sound baths, tours etc.), are also postponed until further notice.

Additionally, there will be a reduction in service with the Artists on the Wards program. We will only be working with individual patients that are selected and referred to us directly by unit staff – to make an artist referral for an appropriate patient please call 780 407 8248. Please note – you can pick up Patient Art Kits with disposable, single-use from the Friends Office during Office Hours, which provide a variety of arts activities for patients.

Thank you for your support during this time. Our teams will be working behind the scenes and at a distance on arts programming and patient service initiatives and are looking forward to being able to fully serve our communities yet again. As things develop and as we hear more from our partners at Alberta Health Services we will provide more updates. Take care of yourselves, and we thank you for assisting us in taking care of our Friends.

Sincerely,

Tyler Sherard
Executive Director & McMullen Gallery Director