RxART, a nonprofit organisation focusing on the intersection of visual art and healthcare, has recently opened installations by leading contemporary artists at children’s hospitals in Arizona and Utah, US.
The organisation commissions renowned contemporary artists in projects to transform pediatric hospitals into engaging and uplifting healing environments, enhancing patient experiences and humanising medical settings at no cost to the hospital.
In 2024, RxART revealed installations by Harold Ancart at the Primary Children’s Hospital Miller Family Campus in Lehi, Utah, and Shara Hughes at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix Arizona.
The artists’ visions were brought to life at an environmentally immersive scale by Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA), a multidisciplinary firm specialising in the planning and design of museums, exhibits, educational environments and visitor attractions. As a corporate design partner of RxART, RAA served as the bridge between RxART, the hospital, the artist, and the fabricator.
Diane Brown, RxART founder and president, says: “RxART is thrilled to partner with RAA on transformative hospital art installations that elevate the patient experience.
“From Harold Ancart’s whimsical fish swimming through the sky at Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, UT, to Shara Hughes’s bold, colorful artwork brightening the main corridor at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, our collaborations create joyful, uplifting environments for patients, families, and staff. With RAA’s expertise, each installation is thoughtfully prepared for lasting inspiration and maximum impact.”
RAA provided client services, graphic production, fabrication, and implementation support across the projects.
The power of visual art
At Primary Children’s Hospital’s new Miller Family Campus, RAA worked with RxART and Harold Ancart to bring an engaging installation to the main corridor. Here, Ancart’s artwork imagines a colourful shoal of fish swimming in a tranquil, cloud-scattered sky.
Primary Children’s Hospital, part of the extensive Intermountain Health System, is a not-for-profit, independent children’s hospital providing quality healthcare for children with complex illnesses and injuries from across the US. The Miller Family Campus opened in February 2024 and provides services across five floors, with 66 beds and an expected 60,000 outpatient visits, 40,000 imaging visits, and 22,000 inpatient stays per year.
The artwork installation is located in the hospital’s main corridor, a 68-foot-long space at the centre of the hospital, by the education centre, cafe, and pharmacy, and close to the main lobby.
To enhance the central corridor and elevator bay of Phoenix Children’s Hospital, RAA partnered with RxART and artist Shara Hughes. Hughes’ calming and captivating mixed media landscapes are transformed into an immersive installation that envelops patients and their families. The work extends across more than 5,300 square feet over the walls of the hospital’s central corridor and elevator bay.
Hughes’ RxART display will be seen by around 70,000 patients at Phoenix Children’s Hospital each year. The hospital was recognised in the 2021-22 US News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals,”, its 11th consecutive entry. The list ranked a number of its specialities, including Cardiology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, as 10 out of 10.
Aki Carpenter, vice president, chief creative officer, Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA), says: “We are elated to continue our partnership with RxART by helping to bring the vision of these extraordinary artists to life.
“These spaces remind us of the transformative power of beauty, not just as something to admire but as a force that uplifts, heals, and connects us in the most challenging moments. Installations demonstrate the best of humanity — artists and designers coming together to inspire hope, healing, and moments of joy for patients and their families.”
The installations follow a collaboration between RxART and RAA on Nina Chanel Abney’s exhibit at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens, New York, where the clinic’s waiting areas, windows, and hallways are transformed with joyful, immersive wall coverings and vinyl graphics.
Recently, RAA was selected as exhibition designer for The Whale following a major international competition. This new marine wildlife attraction is anticipated to open in Norway in 2027.
