While the entire experience is hospital-themed\u2014you walk through a waiting room and are given an intake form and hospital wristband, employees are in doctors\u2019 coats\u2014it\u2019s not the cheesy type of immersive exhibition (read: selfie factory) that you might expect. Instead you\u2019ll find 80 rooms filled with thought-provoking, visually dazzling and, yes, eminently photogenic installations. But there\u2019s both style and substance here. And though the tickets are definitely on the pricey side, there\u2019s so much to see\u2014I spent nearly two hours there during my visit\u2014that it (almost) makes up for it.<\/p>\n
After checking in, you\u2019ll take an elevator to the top floor of the hospital, then walk the hallways and go down sets of stairs till you make your way back down to the ground level. Off of each hallway, you\u2019ll peer into patient rooms, operating spaces, nurses\u2019 stations and ER spaces that have been completely transformed by artists from a range of disciplines\u2014working in architecture, design, illustration, street art and more. Each has lent their own personal experience and creative interpretation to a number of different emotions.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779920768_592_image.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time OutDavid Otis Johnson\u2019s room at Hospital of Emotions.
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The rooms are organized by theme; you start at the top of the building in the \u201cResilience Department\u201d and make your way through clusters of rooms inspired by feelings like joy, sadness, anger, grief, fear and hope. (You can stamp your intake form at the end of each floor, but this doesn\u2019t really pay off.) The emphasis on emotions and mental health here is a natural fit, as the property is slated to become part of the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus later this year. (The original\u00a0hospital\u00a0dates back to 1856 and is considered the city\u2019s first hospital; it remained open until going bankrupt in 2020.) Many artists have embraced the hospital setting\u2014some have repurposed the existing hospital beds and hardware, others have re-created beds out of cardboard, say, or neon lights\u2014while others take a more figurative approach to the assignment of depicting a human emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779920770_423_image.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time OutJaviera Estrada\u2019s Twister-themed room at Hospital of Emotions.
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Out of 80 rooms, there were lots of standouts. The first piece you\u2019ll encounter is a larger-than-life fetus suspended in an illuminated glass column. Across the hall is Prepper\u2019s Paradise, by artist David A Knudsen, where you\u2019re given a pair of 3-D glasses to fully appreciate the rows of cheekily named canned goods in a blacklight-lit room. Javiera Estrada\u2019s Twister-themed room, covered in polka dots with colorful dummies hanging from the furniture, is sure to be a crowd pleaser, as is local artist Rebecca Ann Carver\u2019s California-inspired infinity room filled with poppies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779920770_133_image.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out\u201cThe Resilience of Nature\u201d by Allison Creates.
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Some of my other favorites were the rooms that looked like they had been reclaimed by nature\u2014monarch butterflies mid-flight filled one by Olivia Barrionuevo, another by Allison Creates found cattails and moss sprouting through the middle of the hospital bed, another was outfitted with gorgeous faux florals by botanical installation artist Lisa Waud. Rooms plastered with book pages or filled with cardboard (Greg Corbino and Heriberto Gomes) also left an impression on me. A couple used video and technology in memorable and honestly mind-bending ways.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779920771_273_image.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time OutLisa Waud\u2019s room at Hospital of Emotions.
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![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779920772_733_image.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time OutHeriberto Gomes\u2019s room at Hospital of Emotions.
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When I visited during a preview, nearly all the artists were on hand outside of their rooms and eager to share their process or the inspiration behind their work. You may not encounter that during your visit, so instead I recommend reading the placards outside of each room for a deeper understanding of each installation. (If you like what you see, each also has a QR code so you can follow the artist on social media.) Some rooms were worked on by more than one artist\u2014like the installation by the People Concern, who brought together artists who\u2019ve dealt with homelessness to create\u00a0a moving installation, centered around a paper-mache woman-slash-tree and adorned with butterflies representing peers on Skid Row who\u2019ve passed away. And artist Paal Anand collaborated with Veterans Stand Together for his video installation that shines a light on PTSD. Note: Some of the best rooms are tucked away at the end of a hallway, so keep an eye on the numbers so you don\u2019t miss any.<\/p>\n
On the way out, there\u2019s a \u201cBuild Your Own Bouquet\u201d room filled with an eye-popping variety of beautifully realistic pipe-cleaner flowers\u2014I excitedly gathered a dozen beautiful faux blooms before realizing that they were $10 apiece (and put all but one back). The ticket price of $55 already provides a bit of pause\u2014especially when you compare it to typical (free) gallery shows and the price of museum tickets that provide access to centuries of world-class art (LACMA<\/a>, for example, only costs $25 to visit). But, given\u00a0the novelty and the limited-time nature of Hospital of Emotions, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll leave feeling disappointed. I, for one, left very impressed.<\/p>\n