Diane Brown was scared. She was lying on her back in a colorless hospital room being readied for a CAT scan. Her only escape was her imagination. Brown began to envision what she knew could bring her comfort—a painting by contemporary artist Matthew Ritchie going up the wall and across the ceiling. “I became completely involved in it, and when the procedure was over, I felt like I hadn’t even been there. The experience was so strong I immediately wanted to do this for other people.”
So with newfound inspiration, the 52-year-old former gallery owner set out to make her vision reality. Even though she had what she refers to as “the best job in the art world” curating an extensive private collection, this idea possessed her. “As you get older, you start to look at your life and assess whether you made any difference,” she says. “Plus, you want to stay challenged.”
Brown thought about it this way: A hospital is a blank canvas. Sure, it needs to be sterile in practical terms. But it doesn’t need to be bare and lifeless. In fact, as Brown researched the topic, she found studies about how viewing art can actually promote healing—by encouraging relaxation, decreasing pain perception, humanizing surroundings, and even boosting immunity. But Brown didn’t just want to hang landscapes in waiting rooms. “I wanted to display excellent, original contemporary art that was challenging in a positive way,” she explains. “I didn’t want to put up wallpaper.”
Rockefeller University Hospital in New York gave her a chance. In the 8 years since then, her nonprofit organization, which she dubbed RxArt, has completed 14 projects, including ones at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, and Children’s Hospital Boston. True to her dream, Brown raises money (from $25,000 to $250,000) for each project, buys one-of-a-kind works from the artists, and then installs them at no cost to the hospital on a “long-term-loan basis.” The art is not for sale, and she estimates that half a million patients, visitors, and staffers view it annually. Although most of her money comes from donors, RxArt runs an art store on its website (www.rxart.net) and also sells a $20, 112-page coloring book called “Between the Lines” that features original drawings from 55 artists.
Brown says there are many sterile (and even scary) places in the world that could benefit from a little color—whether it’s an abandoned lot in your neighborhood that could become a community garden or a gray city wall that could benefit from a creative mural. The magic is to broaden the concept of art to include anything that makes someone stop, think, and smile for a moment. (Imagine that!)
“I can’t believe how lucky I am to do this,” she says. “It’s the most feel-good thing in the world. Everybody wins.”
ALOHA I THINK THE COLORS ARE GREAT AND VERY COOL.YOU HAVE GREAT IDEAS . I LOVES IT.
HAVE A GOOD DAY.ALOHA AND MAHALO CAROLE 
No Fear!
Decadent (yet smart!) desserts
