Charity Brightens Patients’ Lives Through Art

Founded in 1984 by Atlanta artist John Feight, the Foundation for Hospital Art is a charitable organization that seeks to comfort those confined to hospitals or other public and private care facilities through artistic expression.

While working as a volunteer at Northside Hospital in Atlanta during the 1970s, Feight one day noticed a patient who was sitting and staring at a blank wall.

Thinking there had to be something better than a blank wall to look at, Feight decided to use his artistic skills to create a more visually stimulating environment for the patients. He painted a variety of colorful scenes directly on the walls.

From this one charitable act, Feight went on to form the Foundation for Hospital Art, which today sells pre-drawn, unpainted art kits, complete with all supplies, to business groups and individuals who finish the kits themselves, then send to worthy organizations.

You can purchase three types of kits. One can be returned to the foundation’s art studio, to be touched up by volunteers, then forwarded on to the selected donation facility.

Julie Lyons and Jessica McGill, roommates at the University of Georgia and volunteers at the foundation the past two years, spend as much time as possible helping with the canvasses that come back for touch-up work.

“I started volunteering here because of my family. My grandparents were the first to volunteer, and my family has kept it going ever since,” Lyons said.

“Working on the paintings is such a relaxing and peaceful way to spend your time. During the summer, we were here almost every day. We also volunteer during our school breaks,” McGill said.

With help from community volunteers such as Lyons and McGgill, the Foundation for Hospital Art has donated more than 2,500 completed art sets to hospitals and care facilities this year alone.

In addition to volunteer opportunities at the foundation’s art studio, you can volunteer for Operation Lovejoy, which is at the Atlanta Union Mission's Shepherd's Inn every Saturday from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Residents of the mission’s homeless rehabilitation recovery program, individual volunteers, and corporate and civic groups sit down together to paint for people in hospitals all around the globe. A $5 donation is requested to cover paint and supplies. 

Barbara Banta, senior artist at the foundation for 18 years, said: “Volunteers don’t have to have any special artistic skills to work on these projects. It’s sort of like paint by numbers but with color-coding instead. Not only do some corporations use the kits as team building tools, but families also enjoy working together to contribute to a worthwhile cause in a fun way.”

For further information on volunteering, or to purchase an art kit for your family or business, visit hospitalart.org, or call 678-324-1705.

The Foundation for Hospital Art's office is at 4238 Highborne Dr. in Marietta.

The foundation studio is at 3225 Shallowford Rd., Building 100, Suite 130 on the line between East Cobb and Northeast Cobb.