Local Artist Provides Artwork To New Crawfordsville Emergency Department

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana - When patients and visitors are walking down the hallway of the new Emergency Department and Patient Registration areas at Franciscan Health Crawfordsville, they will notice several new pieces of artwork.

The four pieces of art were done by John Oilar of Crawfordsville, who has worked as an artist for more than 65 years.

"It means a lot for my art to be here," said John, who has numerous ties to Franciscan Health. "What better place than to see an image than a hospital."

John studied art in college and traveled to Europe to study the cathedrals and other artists, including visiting da Vinci's "The Last Supper."

"That was astonishing – the feeling I had when I saw it," said John. "It was incredible and a moving experience. I couldn’t believe how much impact it had."

In addition to having a relative who was a Franciscan sister, John's ties to Franciscan Health began at birth. He was born with complications at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette. "All of the nurses were Franciscan nuns," said John. "There is no way I should have made it and survived, but they prayed and took care of me."

Later as he was exploring art, he took classes from Sister Rufinia, who was a teacher for the Sisters of St. Francis in Lafayette. Sister Rufinia was nationally known for being an artist. John was one of the last classes of students to learn from her. John went on to receive his art degree from Western New Mexico University. His artwork has appeared at various museums, shows and galleries across the United States.

When he is not working on his next project, John and his wife Diane travel around to various art events.

The pieces of artwork hanging in the hospital are of various topics. Three of them are ink – one of St. Francis, one of the Assisi, and one of the Old Ladoga School. The fourth is a colored ink piece of a butterfly called "Hope."