At Memorial, the Community Health Action Group (CHAG), made up of hospital administrators and physicians discussed in a broad sense, ways the arts and creative expression could or would relate to community renewal or community health. They discussed ways that physical environment affects learning: color, space, dimension, visual, auditory and tactile attributes, etc. The art/health concept was debated in light of economic and community development, as a means of releasing human potential and building social capital.

They made some important observations: 1) The hospital needed to consider that the arts are assets that should be more fully connected to the broad public, offering opportunities to better understand the rich diversity of expression that enriches us as a community; 2) Memorial should be more than a "funder"–it should be a full participant in the development of linkages with the cultural community; 3) The hospital may need to try "outrageous" experiments in order to find the real breakthroughs.

The South Bend Regional Museum of Art was also interested in developing additional partnerships or increase ones already in place. Based on the success of Kwanzaa, Susan Visser and her staff considered whether a similar celebration involving the Hispanic/Latino culture could be equally successful. The premise of hosting cultural celebrations was widely accepted as being an excellent way to demonstrate the diversity of a culture and its rich heritage and influence on a community. Displaying artistic expressions from a particular culture in a public venue can build pride, self-esteem and fellowship among its people. It can also enrich an entire community. Merely being held in a location that is recognized as the "keeper of the community’s art", publicly acknowledges that a particular culture’s art is "good". It also encourages cross-cultural exchanges of artistic expression and interpretation.

A perfect and timely opportunity to bring these ideas and notions to fruition presented itself in an announcement to the Museum regarding an international traveling exhibition entitled Imagining the World through Naive Painting. The Museum jumped at the opportunity to host this exhibit in the Spring of 1999.

This opportunity seemed like a perfect fit for the kind of project or activity they believed Memorial Hospital might be looking for, as well. Therefore, hoping to develop a linkage of art and health with a focus on the Hispanic/Latino culture, the Museum staff submitted a proposal to Memorial, requesting financial support to fund a staff position at the Museum. Memorial was interested in a "project" linkage--not just funding a staff position. (Remember, they were looking to experiment.)

Frequent informal discussions brought the two organizations into a fuller understanding of each other’s objectives and knowledge. Soon a common vision emerged around which both could commit resources.

This exhibit could become the cornerstone of an event that would provide the "project" concept that Memorial was looking for and launch both organizations’ reach into the Latino community. The Museum and Memorial collaborated on a revised proposal, incorporating this traveling exhibition. By this time, the decision was easy–"Let’s do it!"