Ryan McGinness at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters
Ryan McGinness at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters

RxART collaborated with Ryan McGinness on a site-specific installation at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. McGinness created an expansive mural for the new CHKD Landstown Health Center. Entitled Energy, McGinness’s sprawling site-specific mural – 100 ft wide by 12 ft high! – crowns the atrium, greeting over 460,000 young patients along with their families, visitors and hospital staff.

Energy is an extensive constellation of vibrantly colored arabesque forms of all sizes, which the artist has referred to as ‘event horizons:’ meditative portals that pull the viewer into an infinite world of energetic color. There is a true pulse to the work. It embodies its title, as it will breathe life and inspiration into its surroundings within the Health Center’s main entrance.

Ryan McGinness is an American artist, living and working in New York, NY. He grew up in the surf and skate culture of Virginia Beach, VA, and then studied at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA as an Andrew Carnegie Scholar. During college, he interned at the Andy Warhol Museum as a curatorial assistant. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Cincinnati Art Museum, among others.

RxART’s Project at CHKD with the artist will be his largest commission in Virginia since the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts commissioned “Art History is Not Linear,” 2010, a 16-panel painting inspired by their collection.

RxART would like to thank Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation for their major support of this project. Additional thanks to Meredith and Brother Rutter their support. For more information about this project and supporting RxART’s projects, contact Megan Skidmore at 212-260-8797 or megan_skidmore@rxart.net.

As a mother of three boys, I have had several trips to CHKD in the last 14 years.  The art installations have a tremendous impact on my children, particularly the recent Ryan McGinness one in the Virginia Beach Landstown facility.  What begins as a very anxious situation for parents and children, quickly becomes less so when you enter a building with a mural as colorful and joyous as the one by Ryan. The art at CHKD, has become the perfect solution for distracting the children and alleviating their stress. The sense of fear, sadness, and nervousness quickly dissipate when we are surrounded by the vibrancy and life of that enormous work of art. It is truly a gift for the patients, the parents, and our entire community.
Carrie Coleman - Mother of CHKD patients
Capital Group is proud and thrilled to work with the wonderful people at RxART in support of the Ryan McGinness project. We have a long involvement with CHKD, and this project is merely the latest example of their innovation in caring for children and their families. Through our affiliation with the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, we are very familiar with Ryan McGinness, a tremendous artist with roots in Hampton Roads.  This project brings it all together in a unique and vibrant way, and we know this artwork will brighten the lives of countless members of our community for years to come.
Scott Duncan - American Funds Service Company/Capital Group, Sr. Vice President/General Manager