Art and Health program introduced to make visits to the clinic entertaining

Have you ever had to visit a clinic and the wait was … boring?

Well one local clinic is working to change that with art and music.

It’s a fresh take that could make doctor’s appointments a little more entertaining.

It’s called the arts and health program and one local clinic is adding some music and a splash of color to their walls to distract patients from what they are there for in the first place.

Centro San Vicente at Pebble Hills is a fairly new clinic tucked away in El Paso’s East Side, and once inside — around every corner you can see paintings with vibrant colors and themes.

“We opened this health center back in August of 2017 and we realized we had a lot of wall space,” said Rudy Castaneda, linkage to care specialist.

Castaneda spearheaded the Arts and Health program to make art accessible to everyone.

“Unfortunately, we still have a lot of people that don’t know or that think art is not for them or that it’s for people that are generally more educated, but it’s for everyone,” Castaneda said.

About every three to four months the health center will be hosting music and local art, featuring new artists every time.

“I thought it was an amazing concept because I’ve been in behavioral health for about 10 years now so I know the importance of mental health and behavioral health,” Marcos Rey said.

Rey is the artist behind the artwork.

Rey told ABC-7 he likes to paint emotions shown through the eyes.

“So when people see the paintings it reflects different emotions that they have within,” Rey said.

Castaneda said the paintings could provide some needed relief during a difficult time.

“Looking at a painting you can sit there and stare at it forever imagining all sorts of things and that actually distracts you from what you’re actually here for which in most of the cases is not very pleasant,” Castaneda said.

Marcos Rey’s art will be displayed until June 31 and for the next Arts and Health event in August they’ll have another artist along with a day of music and poetry.

The Centro San Vicente health center is located at 10780 Pebble Hills Boulevard Suite G1 or you can follow them on Facebook here.