Monthly Archives: July 2012

Follow Up to Anti-smoking Mural Piece

The No Smoking mural on the Ferry family wall ledge, painted by artist Robert Gordon, has elicited approving comment from passersby and apparently deterred Mercy Hospital smokers who don’t want to be seen sitting on the wall, puffing away.  “I saw the artist painting that,” says Clarence Summerfield of 43rd street. “It’s beautiful, and for someone who doesn’t smoke it’s a really big health issue.” ESP’s photo essay about the mural was followed by a feature article in the Sacramento Bee (Our Region, Thursday, July 26). Now, says Jim Ferry, smokers stand in clusters and “smoke near the driveway.”  It’s as if the Ferrys are slowly inching the smokers back to Mercy property.

Conceived by Joanie Ferry, the mural idea generated  a lot of neighborhood buzz, most of it overwhelmingly positive.  “It’s a great use of art for private and public good,” says neighbor Eileen Lynch. She adds that she follows the Ferry struggle with the Mercy Corporation on Jim Ferry’s blog (Living Next to Mercy).

Artist Gordon, who worked in part from idea sketches submitted by the Ferrys, will continue to work on the wall, and will next paint a a “No Truck Zone” mural on the Ferry’s garage which faces the Mercy parking lot. This zone had been exploited by Mercy vehicles that send idling exhaust and fumes onto Ferry property.

“Neighbors shouldn’t have to breathe these toxins,” says Lynch. “It’s why so many of us end up in hospitals in the first place. Kudos to the Ferrys.”

Posted in Essays | 3 Comments

East Sacramento Preservation Member Uses Art to Educate Mercy Hospital Smokers

When Jim Ferry couldn’t get help from Sacramento Mercy Hospital he armed himself with paintbrushes and fought back. Smokers from the hospital were plaguing him, sitting on his wall, smoking under his windows and dropping butts.

Ferry went to hospital meetings, asked for help and complained through all the appropriate channels. All for naught. Patient and employee smokers in the neighborhood were not on the top of Mercy’s list of concerns. The smokers needed a close by place when a craving hit and Jim’s house was a good place to go. It’s right next to the front of the hospital on 40th and J Streets and has a convenient short-wall fence. Perfect sitting height.

Last year the hospital adopted a smoke free campus policy. There is no doubt that this is a good thing. The problem is––where can you go to smoke now that all of the hospital’s designated smoking areas are gone? The hospital cannot control where the smokers go––they just won’t let them smoke on hospital property.

East Sacramento Preservation suggested to Mercy that hospital housekeeping routinely check the ashtrays and help keep the neighborhood clean by making a butt sweeping round at least once a day, or more. We also suggested that hospital security help the neighbors by moving smokers along who smoke near houses, or sit on neighbors’ property. We have not see any evidence of this happening.

Ferry was fed up and Mercy didn’t count on the power of art. Out came the paint, the brushes and loads of creativity. Ferry used his wall as a canvass and made his case. Bright, optimistic images remind smokers and Mercy not to use his property as an ashtray. His tactic is positive and non confrontational. It’s art. It’s open to interpretation. And it’s working.

Posted in Essays | Comments Off on East Sacramento Preservation Member Uses Art to Educate Mercy Hospital Smokers