The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. We fulfill our mission by providing services and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations; professional development opportunities; commissioning civic artworks and managing the County’s civic art collection; implementing countywide arts education initiatives; research and evaluation; career pathways in the creative economy; free community programs; and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. This work is framed by the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and a longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts.
Azul Healing Garden was a collaborative design between artist Dan Corson and Ahbe Landscape Architects. The artist’s goal was to create a garden that facilitates stress reduction by utilizing the basic tenants of chromotherapy by saturating the space with the color blue. The color blue has calming effects that have been shown to reduce blood pressure, slow breathing and reduce heart rate. It stimulates the parasympathetic system which is responsible for rest and digestion and has been known to have anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxing effects. A blue hued environment has also been shown to make people more responsive to new ideas, allowing for increased creativity and problem solving.
About the Artist:
Dan Corson is an internationally recognized artist whose large-scale immersive installations and public artworks often engage the viewer as co-creators. Originally trained in theatrical design, Corson’s artworks are infused with drama, passion, layered meanings and transform from day to night in mesmerizing ways. He is particularly interested in green design and new technologies and how these tools can help frame and amplify the natural word and our shifting relationship to it.
Corson’s Artwork straddles the disciplines of Art, Theatrical Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and sometimes even Magic. His projects have ranged from complex rail stations and busy public intersections to quiet interpretive buildings, meditation chambers and galleries.
Corson has been creating dynamic artworks in the public realm for over 25 years.
With a Masters Degree in Art from the University of Washington and a BA in Theatrical Design from San Diego State University, his work is infused with drama, passion, layered meanings and often engages the public as co-creators within his environments. He is particularly interested in green design and new technologies and how these tools can help frame and amplify the natural word and our shifting relationship to it.
Among his various awards, Corson has been honored with 8 coveted Public Art Network Year-in-Review National Awards, received the NW Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (NIAUSI prize) fellowship in Italy, and was tapped by Seattle Homes and Lifestyle as one of the top people that define Seattle Design. He has partnered with architects and landscape architects for 4 AIA Awards and 3 ASLA awards.
