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Culver City Artist Paal Anand Unveils Major New Installation On Veteran Mental Health
(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Culver City-based fine artist and former Hollywood visual effects veteran Paal Anand unveils his most ambitious work to date on May 27, 2026: a holographic installation depicting the aftermath of an IED explosion and the psychological toll of post-service trauma carried by surviving veterans. The Ward That Never Closed is presented in partnership with Veterans Stand Together (VST), the Los Angeles 501(c)(3) that has served more than 8,000 veterans since 2020. The work occupies a room in the Fear Department of Hospital of Emotions, the seventy-artist immersive exhibition profiled by the Los Angeles Times on May 20, and remains on view through July 31, 2026.
Hospital of Emotions is staged at the shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center at 2131 West 3rd Street in the Westlake district, a 45,000-square-foot immersive transformation across four floors. The exhibition is presented by Royva and produced by Oshri Elmorich, with curation led by Yaara Sachs of House of Art & Dreams. The venue carries deep historical weight: St. Vincent's was founded in 1856 by the Daughters of Charity as L.A.'s first hospital. It closed due to bankruptcy in 2020 before serving as a temporary COVID-19 treatment center, was acquired that year by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, and was recently sold to a private investment group co-owned by Shay Yadin.
In the LA Times article published May 20, 2026, Hospital of Emotions is described as "a 45,000-square-foot immersive maze of grief, joy, fear and hope-driven installations" that "inhabits a hospital in transition, previewing a $300-million behavioral health campus slated for 2028 that will add 800-plus beds for mental health, addiction and homelessness services." Of the seventy participating artists, the Times notes that "invisible trauma - and recovery through art - is a prominent throughline of the exhibition," and identifies Anand's installation as a centerpiece of that throughline.
The Times quotes Anand directly on the work's intent: "There is no way you can walk out and look away." Speaking more broadly about the piece's design, Anand said it was intended "to give the inner life of veterans the visible weight it has always deserved. Twenty-six American veterans die by suicide every day. Most of them are not honored by art, by news, or by the country they served. I wanted to make a room where they are seen - not as statistics, but as the specific people they were."
The installation re-creates an aftermath space scattered with debris, lit by translucent holographic projections in which luminous spectral figures appear suspended in mid-air, voicing letters and final words compiled from the lives of veterans who died by suicide after returning from war. Custom voice performance was developed. The full piece runs approximately fourteen minutes per cycle, with bridge sequences directing visitors to Veterans Stand Together and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
The collaboration with VST is the partnership's load-bearing element. VST - founded by George Casillas, Los Angeles County Veteran of the Year in 2022 - provides the work's care infrastructure: staff training, follow-up referrals, and operational handoff into VST's existing partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Veterans Peer Access Network (VPAN). Casillas said. "It asks the visitor to witness something real, and then it makes sure the visitor has somewhere to go with what they witnessed. VST is honored to be the partner organization standing on the other side of the work - to take the call, to make the connection."
About the Artist.
Paal Anand is a Canadian-born conceptual artist based in Culver City, working at the intersection of immersive installation, fine art photography, and emerging technology. He spent more than two decades as a Hollywood visual effects artist on films including Hellboy and Pirates of the Caribbean before transitioning to a full-time fine art practice. Anand is Co-Chair of the Culver City Arts Foundation, a 2026 Arte Laguna Prize Ambassador, an Arte Laguna World Hall of Fame inductee, Fondazione Effetto Arte Artist of the Year 2025, and a fifteen-time Graphis Gold Photography Award recipient.
About Veterans Stand Together.
VST is a veteran-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in South Gate, California. Since 2020 it has served more than 8,000 veterans through Vocational, Housing, and Mental Health divisions using its proprietary Milestone System. VST partners with the LA County VPAN and holds the ESGR Patriot Award. Its peer support philosophy: "Focus on what is strong, not what is wrong." Information at usavest.
About Hospital of Emotions
Hospital of Emotions is an immersive site-specific exhibition staged inside the historic former St. Vincent Medical Center building at 2131 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles. The exhibition brings together more than 70 artists and designers, each given a single hospital room and a directive to create an environment around human emotion. The result is 80 fully realized spaces exploring states such as love, fear, hope, anger and joy. Visitors move through the building room by room, stepping into distinct emotional worlds that range from intimate to expansive, surreal to unexpectedly playful. Patient rooms, operating areas, corridors and nurses' stations remain intact, carrying the memory of the space's former function. Artwork Archive
The exhibition is presented by House of Art and Dreams, ROYVA Group, and the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, and curated by House of Art and Dreams. It opens to the public May 27, 2026, and runs through July 31, 2026. Information and tickets at
Practical Information.
Hospital of Emotions opens May 27 and runs through July 31, 2026, daily 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, at 2131 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles 90057. Tickets are $42–$58, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the future behavioral center's nonprofit administrative organization. The Ward That Never Closed runtime: approximately 14 minutes. Content advisory: the installation depicts post-service veteran experience including topics of suicide and trauma.
A note for readers. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day. Call or text 988. Veterans, press 1. Media covering this installation are encouraged to follow Reporting on Suicide guidelines (reportingonsuicide).
Hospital of Emotions is staged at the shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center at 2131 West 3rd Street in the Westlake district, a 45,000-square-foot immersive transformation across four floors. The exhibition is presented by Royva and produced by Oshri Elmorich, with curation led by Yaara Sachs of House of Art & Dreams. The venue carries deep historical weight: St. Vincent's was founded in 1856 by the Daughters of Charity as L.A.'s first hospital. It closed due to bankruptcy in 2020 before serving as a temporary COVID-19 treatment center, was acquired that year by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, and was recently sold to a private investment group co-owned by Shay Yadin.
In the LA Times article published May 20, 2026, Hospital of Emotions is described as "a 45,000-square-foot immersive maze of grief, joy, fear and hope-driven installations" that "inhabits a hospital in transition, previewing a $300-million behavioral health campus slated for 2028 that will add 800-plus beds for mental health, addiction and homelessness services." Of the seventy participating artists, the Times notes that "invisible trauma - and recovery through art - is a prominent throughline of the exhibition," and identifies Anand's installation as a centerpiece of that throughline.
The Times quotes Anand directly on the work's intent: "There is no way you can walk out and look away." Speaking more broadly about the piece's design, Anand said it was intended "to give the inner life of veterans the visible weight it has always deserved. Twenty-six American veterans die by suicide every day. Most of them are not honored by art, by news, or by the country they served. I wanted to make a room where they are seen - not as statistics, but as the specific people they were."
The installation re-creates an aftermath space scattered with debris, lit by translucent holographic projections in which luminous spectral figures appear suspended in mid-air, voicing letters and final words compiled from the lives of veterans who died by suicide after returning from war. Custom voice performance was developed. The full piece runs approximately fourteen minutes per cycle, with bridge sequences directing visitors to Veterans Stand Together and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
The collaboration with VST is the partnership's load-bearing element. VST - founded by George Casillas, Los Angeles County Veteran of the Year in 2022 - provides the work's care infrastructure: staff training, follow-up referrals, and operational handoff into VST's existing partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Veterans Peer Access Network (VPAN). Casillas said. "It asks the visitor to witness something real, and then it makes sure the visitor has somewhere to go with what they witnessed. VST is honored to be the partner organization standing on the other side of the work - to take the call, to make the connection."
About the Artist.
Paal Anand is a Canadian-born conceptual artist based in Culver City, working at the intersection of immersive installation, fine art photography, and emerging technology. He spent more than two decades as a Hollywood visual effects artist on films including Hellboy and Pirates of the Caribbean before transitioning to a full-time fine art practice. Anand is Co-Chair of the Culver City Arts Foundation, a 2026 Arte Laguna Prize Ambassador, an Arte Laguna World Hall of Fame inductee, Fondazione Effetto Arte Artist of the Year 2025, and a fifteen-time Graphis Gold Photography Award recipient.
About Veterans Stand Together.
VST is a veteran-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in South Gate, California. Since 2020 it has served more than 8,000 veterans through Vocational, Housing, and Mental Health divisions using its proprietary Milestone System. VST partners with the LA County VPAN and holds the ESGR Patriot Award. Its peer support philosophy: "Focus on what is strong, not what is wrong." Information at usavest.
About Hospital of Emotions
Hospital of Emotions is an immersive site-specific exhibition staged inside the historic former St. Vincent Medical Center building at 2131 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles. The exhibition brings together more than 70 artists and designers, each given a single hospital room and a directive to create an environment around human emotion. The result is 80 fully realized spaces exploring states such as love, fear, hope, anger and joy. Visitors move through the building room by room, stepping into distinct emotional worlds that range from intimate to expansive, surreal to unexpectedly playful. Patient rooms, operating areas, corridors and nurses' stations remain intact, carrying the memory of the space's former function. Artwork Archive
The exhibition is presented by House of Art and Dreams, ROYVA Group, and the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, and curated by House of Art and Dreams. It opens to the public May 27, 2026, and runs through July 31, 2026. Information and tickets at
Practical Information.
Hospital of Emotions opens May 27 and runs through July 31, 2026, daily 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, at 2131 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles 90057. Tickets are $42–$58, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the future behavioral center's nonprofit administrative organization. The Ward That Never Closed runtime: approximately 14 minutes. Content advisory: the installation depicts post-service veteran experience including topics of suicide and trauma.
A note for readers. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day. Call or text 988. Veterans, press 1. Media covering this installation are encouraged to follow Reporting on Suicide guidelines (reportingonsuicide).
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