Valley Children to Make Art for Children’s Hospital at Visalia Taste the Arts
Visalia, CA – September 8, 2010
Children’s Hospital Central California and Distinctive Art Source invite children and their families to create artwork at Taste the Arts festival in downtown Visalia Saturday, September 11, 2010. The hospital is working with community groups to create a mosaic wall sculpture for Paramount Farms Plaza, which will open at Children’s next year. The wall sculpture will feature multi-colored dimensional fish created by children in the Valley including campers at the City of Fresno Summer Fitness Camp and Camp Sunshine Dreams, a non-profit camp for children with cancer.
Taste the Arts, a celebration of art, culture and agriculture, begins Thursday and runs through September 11 in downtown Visalia. Stop by the Children’s Hospital Central California booth from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. Saturday to help create the mosaic. Other activities include coloring books, crayons and wooden ornaments featuring flamingos, butterflies, toucans and tortoises.
The Art Committee at Children’s Hospital engaged Distinctive Art Source, healthcare art consultants, to guide them through the process of a creating a community-centered, multi-media art program that reflects the cultural diversity of the hospital’s unique patient population while illustrating the beauty of central California. The program will not only include artwork created by community members but also represent the unique cultural richness of these communities. Images will tell the story of a snowflake’s travels from the Sierra Nevada mountains through one of many local rivers and across the fertile valley supporting central California agriculture and wildlife throughout its travels.
One of the art program’s goals is to create a joyful environment that instills a sense of hope in all who visit. “We are very excited about the art program for the new Paramount Farms Plaza,” says Tim Curley, Director of Community and Government Relations for Children’s Hospital. “When you walk the halls of Children’s Hospital, you will be inspired by the art because it will tell the incredible story of life in Central California and the importance of our agricultural community,“ says Curley.
When it opens in 2011 Paramount Farms Plaza, the new 60,000 square foot expansion of Children’s Emergency Department and Trauma Program, will allow the hospital to grow emergency, imaging, surgical suites, critical care and other programs to match the deepening need of the region’s ill and injured children.
Research shows that patient-based art programs can help reduce stress in the healthcare environment. “Images that are appropriately selected for the hospital environment may offer patients and their families a positive distraction and, if even for a few moments, take their minds off the physical discomfort and unfamiliar surroundings,” explains Barbara Harriman, IIDA, president and creative director of Distinctive Art Source.
About Children’s Hospital Central California:
Children’s Hospital Central California is a not-for-profit, state-of-the-art children’s hospital on a 50-acre campus. In California, we treat more inpatient cases than any pediatric hospital north of San Diego, making us the second largest children’s hospital in the state. The 340-bed facility is one of the 10 largest hospitals of its type in the nation. In 2004, Children’s Hospital Central California was the first children’s hospital west of the Rockies to receive Magnet Nursing designation, the highest nursing benchmark in the world. We are accredited by the Joint Commission and proud to have been recognized by the LeapFrog Group with an award for Excellence in Patient Safety and Health Care Quality. Children’s performs more than 9,000 pediatric surgeries a year and the Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units have some of the lowest mortality rates in the country while treating some of the sickest kids. The Craycroft Cancer Center is a full member of the nationally-recognized Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and sees more than 100 new cases a year. The Willson Heart Center has pioneered pediatric heart care for half a century. Children’s Hospital Central California is the premier pediatric medical center in the heart of the Golden State. We are Children’s Hospital Central California – Amazing People, Incredible Care.
About Distinctive Art Source:
Distinctive Art Source is a comprehensive art consulting firm, working exclusively in healthcare. While our focus is creating evidence and patient-based art programs centered on owner, architect and designer input, our goals are twofold: to bring unexpected art options and solutions to each project and to involve the local art community whenever possible. Established in 2003, Distinctive Art Source has helped hospitals throughout the country to conceptualize, visualize and realize the goals of their art programs.
Contact:
Theresa Ceniccola
Marketing Director, Distinctive Art Source
703.870.3719
tceniccola@distinctiveartsource.com
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