Dear Facilities Director,
I have believed in the power of music and art to benefit all people, especially
those in institutional environments. I have been an artist and musician
all my life. I studied Art history and Psychology at Boston University
and then graduated from the School of Visual Arts. In 1976 I became a volunteer
Art Therapist at Hillside House division of Long Island Jewish Hospital
where I worked with severely disturbed patients in an isolated ward. I
was able to get almost all of the residents to express themselves artistically,
and eventually they looked forward to the weekly workshops. In 1990 I worked
with homeless people in a New York City Soup Kitchen on Manhattan’s
Upper West Side. Each week we completed a group collage having to do with
the “hot” item that week: Martin Luther King Day, Superbowl
Sunday, Valentine’s Day. The homeless clients would suggest graphic
elements to me and I would cut them out and paste them on a large board
with a wide border. When the piece was completed, everyone would sign the
border the finished piece would hang in the central shelter next to the
Port Authority Bus Terminal. It became a source of pride and accomplishment
for every participant.
Also during the 1990's, I became art director for
Altria Corporate Services. Altria (formerly known as Philip Morris) had
a long involvement in sponsorship of the arts and volunteerism. In January
2001, I directed the group painting of a sixty foot mural depicting the
four seasons at Morningside House in Bronx, NY. I developed a system
which I have used in two later murals.
First I would meet with the staff of the facility and discuss what visual image would benefit the people who pass it all day. I then would design the actual mural on the computer and submit it to the staff for discussion and approval. When designing the mural I had to taken certain factors into account. It had to be completed in eight hours by twenty people. The computer image had to be simplified down to eight colors of off-the-shelf paint. I then printed out the computer design on acetate, went to the site with an overhead projector and projected the piece on the wall which I outlined with magic marker. When the volunteers arrived, I assigned each on of them a different color and gave each a color printout of the finished piece so they would know where to put the color. In August, 2002 I similarly created eight separate murals for Ivy House, a domestic violence shelter in Harlem. It was also a great success. Please view photos of both projects and the proposed murals for New York Foundling Hospital.
I would like to organize a project like this at your facility. Murals can benefit the volunteers who paint them, and the eyes that view them for many years to come. Our prehistoric ancestors knew the value of murals and we still enjoy the cave paintings that were done by them thousands of years ago. Perhaps together, we can leave a artistic legacy that will benefit the people at your facility for many years to come.
Very truly yours,
Doug Leblang
