Olivia Barrionuevo turns former hospital ICU into butterfly installation

By AI, Created 8:36 PM UTC, June 02, 2026, /AGP/ – Olivia Barrionuevo’s The Monarch Project: RESILIENCE is on view inside the former St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Los Angeles through July 31 as part of Hospital of Emotions. The work uses thousands of handcrafted butterflies to frame resilience inside a decommissioned ICU, where 70 artists are transforming 80 rooms into emotion-based installations.

Why it matters: - Barrionuevo’s installation turns a former ICU into an artwork about healing, memory and survival. - The piece is part of a larger citywide draw: Hospital of Emotions occupies a decommissioned Los Angeles hospital with 70 artists across 80 rooms. - The exhibition links contemporary art to mental health and emotional recovery in a space once dedicated to care.

What happened: - Olivia Barrionuevo opened The Monarch Project: RESILIENCE on May 27, 2026, in the former ICU of St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Los Angeles. - The installation is on view through July 31, 2026. - Hospital of Emotions presents the work as one of 80 room-based installations spread across four floors of the former hospital. - Barrionuevo’s room is dedicated to resilience.

The details: - The installation uses approximately 3,000 handcrafted monarch butterflies. - Mirrored floors and a blue color palette shape the room’s visual design. - Visitors view the piece through glass, which preserves the room’s clinical architecture as part of the experience. - The Monarch Project uses the monarch butterfly migration as its core metaphor. - The migration spans thousands of kilometers across successive generations that do not complete the full route individually. - The project has traveled across multiple venues for more than a decade. - Each version adapts to its location and community. - Participant stories, including photography, written testimony and video, are part of the work’s ongoing archive. - The archive centers on identity, belonging, loss and renewal. - Hospital of Emotions is presented by House of Art and Dreams in collaboration with ROYVA Group and the St. Vincent Behavioral Health Campus. - The former St. Vincent’s Medical Center, one of the oldest medical centers in Los Angeles, closed in 2020. - The exhibition organizes the building into eight departments tied to emotions including joy, love, fear, anger, grief, gratitude and resilience. - The event is staged at 2131 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90057. - Ticket prices are listed at $55 for general admission, $48 for students and seniors 65+, $42 for veterans, $45 for children ages 4 to 12, and free for children under 4. - More information is available at hospitalofemotions.com. - Barrionuevo’s artist website is oliviabarrionuevo.com. - The exhibition’s Instagram accounts include @monarchproject_, @oliviabarrionuevo and @hospital.of.emotions.

Between the lines: - The installation reframes a medical environment as a space for reflection rather than treatment. - The use of monarch migration as a metaphor gives the piece a shared, generational structure that fits the exhibition’s focus on emotion. - The building itself becomes part of the message, so the site matters as much as the artwork inside it.

What’s next: - Hospital of Emotions remains open through July 31, 2026. - Barrionuevo’s installation will continue to change as the larger Monarch Project appears in new places and gathers more participant stories.

The bottom line: - Barrionuevo’s butterfly installation uses a former ICU to make resilience visible, personal and communal at once.