Carolinas HealthCare Foundation and Arts For Life recently announced a new partnership to bring high quality art education to children at Levine Children’s Hospital. A nonprofit, North Carolina-based organization, Arts For Life is dedicated to supporting pediatric patients, and their families, facing serious illnesses and disabilities through visual art, music, and creative writing education.
The most comprehensive facility of its kind between Atlanta and Washington D.C., Levine Children’s Hospital has ensured outstanding healthcare for children in Charlotte and the greater southeast region since opening its doors in 2007. Levine Children’s Hospital will join three other children’s hospitals and communities across North Carolina that provide Arts For Life programs.
“We’re thrilled to offer our educational art programs to children and teens at Levine Children’s Hospital,” says Rachel Zink, Arts For Life Executive Director. “Kids battling cancer, blood diseases, and other long-term illnesses will take part in art projects in one of many playrooms across the hospital with the guidance of their Arts For Life teachers. Additionally, patients can explore their creative side in what we call ‘bedside studios’, or hospital room one-on-one art lessons.”
No strangers to the value of the arts in healthcare, Levine Children’s Hospital and supporters at Carolinas HealthCare Foundation continue to demonstrate their commitment to the arts in healthcare as seen in the vibrant displays of more than 1,000 original artworks throughout the hospital, many of which were created by children for children. The hospital also nurtures creativity through the popular on-site Ryan Seacrest Studios, and through collaborations with local arts organizations. The Arts For Life partnership is a fitting example of how Levine Children’s Hospital truly stays on the cutting edge of patient- and family-centered care, as well as medical expertise and innovations. Most importantly, the Arts For Life program will bring a healing component to patients’ hospital experience and remind them they are more than patients—they are artists.
“We’re excited to partner with Arts For Life and bring arts education to our patients and families, with support from the Children’s Medical Fund at Foundation For The Carolinas,” says Mark Griffith, Director of Fund Development for Levine Children’s Hospital. “Our focus on family-centered care and our history of providing our patients with access to meaningful arts opportunities in the healthcare setting make this a natural partnership.”
Since 2001, Arts For Life has been bringing top-notch arts education to pediatric patients and families in children’s hospitals across North Carolina, including Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in Durham, and Mission Children’s Hospital in Asheville. Last year, Arts For Life taught the arts to more than 8,000 patients, siblings, and family members across North Carolina, delivering more than 21,000 visual art, music, and writing lessons, seven days a week.
“While patients from across Charlotte and beyond are receiving the very best medical care here at Levine Children’s Hospital to heal their bodies,” says Heather Silva, Levine Children’s Hospital Child Life Manager, “Arts For Life will help our kids by nurturing their creativity, encouraging them to express themselves, and helping them stay active and engaged in life. Sometimes you can’t change a diagnosis but you can bring joy and creative engagement into the healthcare experience – and that is exactly what this partnership means for us and our patients.”
Artists, college students, and all community members are invited to learn more about the Arts For Life program at artsforlifenc.org/charlotte-teach-art.
ABOUT Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Children’s Hospital
Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Children’s Hospital is a 234-bed hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, located on the main campus of Carolinas Medical Center. It is the most comprehensive facility of its type between Atlanta, Georgia and Washington D.C. Levine Children’s Hospital is also home to the Ricky Hendrick Centers for Intensive Care, which support pediatric intensive and cardiovascular surgery patients. Since opening in 2007, the hospital has grown to include more than 40 pediatric specialties and has received national recognition from U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” in six different categories.
ABOUT Arts For Life
Arts For Life is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people facing serious illnesses and disabilities through educational art programs. Arts For Life brings visual art, music, and creative writing education to pediatric patients and family members in four children’s hospitals and communities across North Carolina. Arts For Life has supported patients and families in the Charlotte community for the past eight years, through other successful programs at Novant Health Presbyterian Hemby Children’s Hospital and Blume Clinic, Camp CARE (Cancer Ain’t Really the End) for Charlotte-area kids and siblings battling cancer, and Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte. Learn more by visiting artsforlifenc.org, or calling (828) 712-8120.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Rachel Zink, Arts For Life (828) 712-8120 / rachel@artsforlifenc.org
Kirstin Ashford, Carolinas HealthCare Foundation (704)-355-4327 / Kirstin.Ashford@carolinas.org