The fountain and statue Healing Waters, created by Azriel Awret and purchased by NIH in 1987, has been moved to the courtyard to the west of the Atrium. Its previous locations were the Lipsett Auditorum waiting area by the shark tank and at the base of the escalator between the first and second floors.
This bronze sculpture of a young woman drinking water from her cupped hands echoes the Biblical reference of drinking from the healing waters of Bethesda. In Aramaic, “beth hesda” means “house of mercy.”
According to tradition, an angel moved the waters and healed the sick at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. As recorded in John 5:1-9, it was at the Pool of Bethesda that Jesus healed a lame man.
Artists Azriel and Irene Awret met at Belgium’s Mechelen Nazi transit camp. They married in 1944 and in the 1970s moved to Falls Church, Va. Their art includes murals at Montgomery County schools, Azriel’s sculptures at George Mason University and Strathmore, and Irene’s book, “They’ll Have to Catch Me First,” about her experience as a Holocaust survivor.
Azriel’s second work on the NIH campus is on the grounds of the Children’s Inn.