NYC Health + Hospitals / Kings County Unveils New Community Mural – NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals / Kings County Unveils New Community Mural

The Community Mural Project is believed to be the nation’s largest community mural project since the 1930s.

Seven new images will be created this year in the health system

06 Aug 2024

New York, NY – NYC Health + Hospitals today unveiled a new mural as part of the Community Mural Project run by the arts in medicine department. mural, We Will Be OK at NYC Health + Hospitals / Kings County, was developed by artist Fitgi Saint-Louis through a series of focus groups with community members, staff and patients and brought to life in a painting festival where the community invited to paint a mural together. We Will Be OK is one of 7 new murals to be created this year, including 37 murals created at NYC Health+ Hospitals since 2019. The first wave of the Community Mural Project is featured in the book, Healing Walls: New York City Health + Hospitals Community Mural Project 2019-2021. A video of the artist and community members talking about the mural is available here. These and other NYC Health+ hospital images can be viewed on the free Bloomberg Connects app. The Community Mural Project is made possible with the support of the Laurie M. Tisch Lighting Fund.

We Will Be OK, located at Kings County Hospital’s Center for Beauty and Healing, includes a collective journey of healing, showcasing the resilience and unity of people redeeming their lives from addiction. By presenting circular shapes and repeating patterns, the image symbolizes cultural and gender diversity. Woven silhouettes, made of bright colors and strong lines, represent the interconnected lives of those gathered in the Community Room, highlighting the deep bonds forged through shared struggles and triumphs. In this project, the artist had a temporary studio space within the clinic, where daily interactions with patients and staff during open studio hours facilitated a unique collaborative process. This environment allowed patients to relax, take pride in their contribution, and engage in meaningful conversations.

“Decades of research have shown that art is a powerful healing tool,” he said Rick Luftglass, Executive Director of the Laurie M. Tisch Light Fund. “When he created an open studio to work on his mural inside the NYC Health + / Kings County Hospital, Fitgi Saint-Louis really expanded the social interaction and inclusion of the public street performance . We Will Be OK it’s a beautiful mural that will encourage connection, boost energy and bring joy to all who see it. We are proud to have funded its production.”

“Fitgi Saint-Louis interprets his work as a reflection of the active social conditions through an abstract geometry,” said. NYC Health + Hospitals Associate Vice President of Medical Arts Larissa Trinder. “His beautiful use of color draws the viewer in and invites them into the full experience. He fosters a deep sense of connection and shares information in his open studio demeanor that allows many voices to be heard and included in the final version. We are proud of this beautiful image and the joy it will bring to the entire King’s community.”

“Our new community mural, We Will Be OK, is not just a work of art; it is a sign of our collective strength and journey towards healing,” it said NYC Health + Hospitals / Kings County CEO Sheldon McLeod. “Through this collaborative effort, we celebrate the diverse voices and shared stories that unite us in the cause of health and recovery. I am especially grateful to the Laurie M. Tisch Foundation for Light for their generous support , which made this important project possible.”

“We wanted to create a calm but strong place, because people come here to lean on each other during the recovery process,” he said. Expert Fitgi Saint-Louis. “We included bright colors to show the diversity of where people come from and the energy that people bring to this place.”

Fitgi Saint-Louis (@fitgisaintlouis), an artist based in New York City, explores African countries and his Haitian heritage through various mediums. With a BFA in Design from the School of Visual Arts, where he also teaches, Saint-Louis infuses his work with vibrant images that celebrate Black culture. A respected dancer and instructor, she has taught at prestigious institutions such as the Alvin Ailey Extension Program and Peridance Capezio Studio. Saint-Louis remains committed to the development of diversity and inclusion in the artistic and creative communities.

The Community Mural Project is believed to be the largest public hospital program since the 1930s, when the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided murals to public buildings, including nearly every hospital in the New York City health system. The WPA paintings were the starting point for the NYC Health+ Hospitals art collection, which is now the city’s largest public art collection and includes more than 7,000 multidisciplinary pieces. The art collection is used to improve the health care environment, encourage creativity, promote health, increase access to art and attract employees.

The Community Mural Project creates opportunities for hospital staff to interact with the community, relieve stress, and improve the service environment. Health care worker burnout is a national health crisis, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created mental health problems throughout New York City, especially in low-income communities, immigrants and the historically excluded, a key patient population for NYC Health+ Hospitals.

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DISCLAIMER WITH MEDIA: PressOffice@nychhc.org

About NYC Health + Hospitals / Kings County
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County is a 639-bed acute care teaching hospital in Central Brooklyn. Among our highly specialized programs are the Level I Trauma Center, Pediatric Emergency Room, Level 3 Perinatal Center, Heart Health Center, Stroke Center, Sickle Cell Program, Wellness Center of Behavior, and the Center for Diabetes Education. Many of our programs have received national recognition, including our heart, stroke and diabetes services. The hospital offers a broad range of primary and specialty care, including the practices of neuroscience, orthopedics, urology and cardiology. Annually, our ambulatory care systems see more than 500,000 visits, and more than 150,000 visits to the Behavioral Health outpatient program, in addition to close to 23,000 patient discharges. NYC Health + Hospitals / Kings County has played a major role in providing health care to vulnerable people in Brooklyn since 1831, and is part of NYC Health + Hospitals, the world’s largest public health care system of the community in the community. For more information visit, www.nychealthandhospitals.org/kingscounty and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KingsCountyHosp or X (formerly known as Twitter) at @KingsCountyHosp .

About NYC Health + Hospitals’ Arts in Medicine Department
The Department of Arts in Medicine at NYC Health + Hospital seeks to foster emotional well-being and promote healing and wellness for all patients and their families, staff, and the greater community through the use of the arts, including literature, art and art across the country. health system. In addition to managing the system’s important art collection, the Arts in Medicine department promotes proven practices and provides technical assistance to all health care facilities and clinics. This is accomplished by integrating creative arts and education into a comprehensive health care process that supports the healing benefits of art. For more information, visit https://www.nychealthandhospital.org/artsinmedicine/.

About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the nation’s largest health care system serving more than one million New Yorkers each year in more than 70 patient care locations in the city’s five boroughs. A strong network of outpatient, community-based and specialty care centers ensures coordination of care with systemic trauma centers, nursing homes, post-hospital care centers, home care centers and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 key hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest lives possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, TwitterInstagram and LinkedIn.

About the Laurie M. Tisch Light Fund
The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund is a New York City-based foundation dedicated to improving access and opportunity for all New Yorkers and promoting a healthy and active community. In 2018, the Illumination Fund launched Arts in Health, a multi-year initiative to support organizations that use the arts as a tool for healing and building understanding in communities across New York City. The causes of this project are stigma, trauma and diseases related to aging as well as supporting mental health organizations in communities disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. In 2019 the Light Fund supported the creation of the NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine department, to expand programs that serve health workers, patients and the community in the City. For more information, visit www.lmtif.org or follow @LMTischFund on Twitter.