From The Inquirer archives: How art brightened the day for some N.J. pediatric patients

This article originally appeared in The Inquirer on June 19, 1994.

By Louise Harbach, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT

Carol Barylski, an art teacher at Shawnee High School in Medford, used to think the conclusion of the school’s Spirit Week was depressing.

That was when she had to throw away all the artwork made by classes that had competed to be named the one with the most school spirit.

“It was such a shame to throw away such talented work,” said Barylski, who has taught art at Shawnee for 13 years.

So, two years ago, she said, “we decided to donate the artwork to someone who might enjoy it.”

The pictures went to Memorial Hospital of Burlington County in Mount Holly, and pediatric patients there were delighted to find Peter Pan and Captain Hook on their walls.

But soon the nursing staff wanted something more permanent.

“All sorts of studies show that art is very therapeutic,” said Jeanette Poole, nursing manager for the hospital’s pediatric unit. “Besides, blank walls are so boring, and those of us who work here were tired of looking at plain walls.”

So Poole let Barylski’s students loose — on the hospital walls. The results of the two-year project, which the students completed June 2, are two murals.

The one in the pediatric hallway has a circus theme, complete with 10 clowns, three jesters, a ringmaster, a thin man, a trapeze artist, and a lion tamer.

The other, in the unit’s playroom, has an aquarium theme, featuring an octopus wearing lipstick and holding books, a pirate ship, a treasure chest, fish peering through portholes, a skull-and-crossbones flag, a shark, and a mermaid.

“I’m not sure who had more fun, us or the patients,” said student Michael Diesner. “A lot of them liked watching us while we painted.”

Now that the murals are finished, Poole said, the staff likes taking the patients, many of them very young, to see them.

“It really distracts the patients,” she said. “The art really calms kids down and takes their minds off their problems.”

One favorite activity is picking out a favorite clown.

“With so many to choose from, it’s difficult,” Poole said. “But that’s what makes it fun. You notice something different each time.”

All the student painters are members of Shawnee’s National Art Honor Society. About 70 of them worked on the murals.

“We’re supposed to be a service-oriented group, and painting the murals was the ideal way to reach out to the community,” said Chelle Hess, who painted one of the clowns.

It took the artists more than a year just to paint the aquarium mural, said Melanie McGuckin, who worked on the murals about twice a week for two years.

“Most of us had never painted a mural before, so we learned as we went along,” said McGuckin, who, as do most of the members of the honor group, hopes to pursue a career in art after graduation.

After the aquarium mural was finished in September, the group transformed the main hallway into a circus.

“Even though we could only come once or twice a week for a few hours, I never doubted we’d get the project finished,” Barylski said. “These kids are really dedicated.”