In a time when people are craving connection more than distraction, a new large-scale site-specific exhibition is leading through emotion and art.
This May, Hospital of Emotions opened inside a former wing of St. Vincent Medical Center, transforming one of Los Angeles’ most historic hospital sites into a fully immersive, large-scale art experience. Presented by House of Art and Dreams, ROYVA Group, and the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, and curated by House of Art and Dreams, the exhibition reimagines the building, now part of the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, as a space shaped by artists, where emotion is experienced through environment, scale, and imagination. Unlike a traditional exhibition, Hospital of Emotions uses the hospital itself as material.
“Hospital of Emotions begins with the space itself,” says the curatorial team at House of Art and Dreams. “A hospital is where we confront fear, but also recognize what matters. Here, the building becomes a journey through human emotion — shifting the focus from treating the body to experiencing and processing emotion.”
Spanning four floors, the exhibition brings together more than 70 artists and designers, each given a single hospital room and one directive: create an environment around a human emotion. The result is 80 fully realized spaces exploring states such as love, fear, hope, anger, and joy. Visitors move through the building room by room, stepping into distinct emotional worlds that range from intimate to expansive, surreal to unexpectedly playful.
Patient rooms, operating areas, corridors, and nurses’ stations remain intact, carrying the memory of what the space once was. Long considered one of the first hospitals in Los Angeles, St. Vincent Medical Center is currently transitioning into the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus. The exhibition takes place during this shift, occupying the space between what the building was and what it is becoming, adding immediacy and real-world context to an exhibition centered on how we feel, connect, and process through art.
At a moment when Los Angeles is charged with energy and change, Hospital of Emotions offers something immediate and shared — a place to experience a full spectrum of feeling through art. Designed for a broad audience, the exhibition balances immersive environments with moments of lightness, curiosity, and reflection.
Select rooms are developed in collaboration with nonprofit partners, including The People Concern and USAVEST, organizations working across mental health, veteran services, and housing insecurity. These partnerships ground the exhibition in lived experience and extend the dialogue beyond the traditional gallery model.
Following an extraordinary response from visitors, Hospital of Emotions will extend its acclaimed Los Angeles run through September 30, 2026, giving thousands more people the opportunity to experience the groundbreaking immersive exhibition.
“People aren’t coming here because they’re looking for another spectacle,” said Yaara Sachs from House of Art. “They’re coming because they’re hungry for experiences that feel real. Art permits us to slow down, to be vulnerable, and to connect — not just with the work, but with each other. That kind of human connection feels more valuable than ever.”
Photography courtesy of Hospital of Emotions.
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