Get a first look at the immersive art exhibit that takes over 80 rooms in a shuttered downtown L.A. hospital

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Inside the long-shuttered St.Vincent Medical Center on the outskirts of downtown Los Angeles, bulletin boards, furniture and other remnants of a once active hospital remain, frozen in time.

But a few flights up, art has taken over.Bulky surgical lights loom over a vacant room transformed into a life-size version of Twister, complete with brightly colored decals resembling the familiar red, yellow, green and blue game mat.Down the hall, ceramic eggs cover the walls while a giant yolk rests atop a mattress, turning a hospital bed into a commentary on fragility and birth.

On the same floor, a neon bed is bathed in red light.Two floors below, IV bags filled with grasses, fungus and a wasp nest hang from the ceiling as part of a meditation on the healing aspects of the environment.Welcome to the “Hospital of Emotions.” This latest entry in Los Angeles’ growing immersive art scene temporarily occupies four floors of the former hospital in the Westlake district and runs May 27 through July 31.

The 45,000-square-foot exhibition brings together the work of more than 70 artists organized into emotional departments including grief, fear, hope, joy and sadness.Unlike many selfie-friendly pop-ups, however, the exhibit is unfolding inside a building preparing for a very different second act: In 2028, it will reopen as the anchor of the St.Vincent Behavioral Health Campus, providing addiction treatment, mental health services, recuperative care, interim housing and permanent supportive housing.This latest incarnation is in keeping with the building’s long history in the community.

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.The facility was acquired that year by Dr.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of The Times and head of the global health firm NantW...