November 18, 2005

New tile wall is a mosaic of healing and caring

Young patients, their parents and caregivers at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHC) have turned the family room on Ellison 17 into an artistic masterpiece with the recent addition of the Patient-Caregiver Tile Wall. Installed in August, the wall is comprised of individually hand-painted tiles, the first of which were painted in 2003.

Back row, from left, Mary Louise Kelleher, RN, MS and Grella.
Front row, from left, Joan Drescher, Gay Bent and Shannon Scott-Vernaglia, MD

Several playroom events were held for the young artists, and a specially-equipped rolling cart — stocked with tiles, paints and other supplies — made trips to patients' bedsides allowing them to create their works of art. Some of the tiles came from children and doctors as far away as the Gasilini Children's Hospital in Italy, with whom MGHC has a relationship fostered by the Healing Arts program. Both the MGH Make a Difference grant and the MGH Ladies Visiting Committee provided support for the project, while Jennifer Grella, owner of the Naked Clay pottery studio in Boston, donated the glazing and firing of the tiles. A second wall, soon to be completed, is planned for Ellison 18.