Last Sunday, RxArt hosted the ribbon cutting for Dan Colen‘s installation at St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Bayside, New York. The artist and RxArt’s Founder and President Diane Brown were present to commemorate the new commission entitled, Moments Like This…
Colen’s work completely transforms the Activity Center of St. Mary’s with a brightly colored mural, inspired by his “Confetti Paintings” series. Enlarged, hand-painted pieces of confetti in red, green, gold, blue, and gold curve, dance, and curl around the walls, railings, stairwell, ramps, and ceiling.
“The beauty of this project, five years in the making, was finding a group of people who all were committed to finding a balance and engaging in all aspects of the project and its challenges with equal weight. The artistic vision and the idea of how it could function within the hospital environment were considered daily. This piece, which depicts confetti frozen in mid-air is about both the joy and the fragility of life; and it has found the perfect home at St Mary’s where the children will have the opportunity to interact with it on a daily basis. Throughout the planning and execution of this project I was fortunate to work with people both in and out of the medical community, and art world who were committed to seeing this through, and who like me believe art can play a role in healing. I feel lucky and grateful to have a work of mine in such a special environment,” said Colen.
The Activity Center serves up to 300 patients a week and is the most used site at St. Mary’s. “We believe the arts are essential to promoting health and well-being in children. Children with special needs can encounter artistic expression to free their imaginations from the constraints imposed by physical limitations, thereby improving their quality of life,” said Dr. Eddie Simpser, President and CEO of St. Mary’s.
In addition to this project with Colen, RxArt has collaborated with over 60 artists in the past 16 years to better patient experience in hospitals around the U.S. “This project has been a labor of love by everyone involved. We are thrilled to be able to brighten the recreation room of the wonderful kids of St. Mary’s,” said Brown.