I find all illustration projects rewarding in some way (how fortunate am I to draw pictures all day?), but earlier this year I was lucky to receive one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever been involved in. Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital in Connecticut refreshed their art collection for their pediatric inpatient facility, and asked me to create four new pieces to be installed in a central hub.
Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital offers cutting-edge therapies to kids long before these therapies are available throughout the US and elsewhere. In addition to medical innovation, they also place as much emphasis on a child’s emotional needs as they do on treating the illness – evidenced by the thoughtfulness and care they put into curating the art collection.
With the guidance and coordination skills of art consultant Nancy Samotis, the art committee commissioned all new work (2D and 3D) on the chosen theme of “travel/journey as a metaphor for the healing process”. The illustrations had to reflect that theme in some way, as well as provide a positive and uplifting atmosphere for the patients, who range in age from newborn to late teens.
This was a pretty wide open brief and so much fun to work with!
Here are the finished illustrations, as well as a few shots of the artwork installed. I had them printed as large giclees (36″ x 30″) here in Toronto by Tricera – they did a beautiful job!
I hope these illustrations make the days a little bit brighter for the kids who spend time in this incredible facility!
These illustrations will be available as prints for purchase in the near future in my Etsy shop, Janey’s Superette.
*Hospital installed artwork photos are by Nancy Samotis.
