Artist Background

As a Child Life Specialist, working in and consulting with hospitals in Boston, Taiwan, Jerusalem, Rwanda, and South Africa, I repeatedly witnessed how design in medical settings impacted children, families, and medical teams. My role was to provide psychosocial care to children and families, facilitate medical play, establish and apply coping strategies, and encourage self expression. I sought out ways to positively impact the environment with child-friendly elements including painting murals. 

Currently, as a stay-at-home mom, I’ve found many ways to apply my training and expertise. Now as a parent of a child with a complex medical history and diagnoses, resulting in multiple hospitalizations and hundreds of therapist and doctor visits, I’ve absorbed the design elements, or lack thereof, in medical settings with a heightened awareness of their impact. It has become more apparent than ever that our encounters with medical settings leave intensely ingrained impressions. The walls around us never seemed to matter more, be it in medical settings or at home. I found that a touch of whimsy goes a long way, in either case, to offer distraction, encourage play, and establish calm. With that realization in mind, I have completed multiple murals in my own home to benefit my children.

I hope to create a sense of joy, peace, and wonder and continue to support children and families in settings of play, learning, respite, and healing informed by my past as a clinician and my present as a mother.