Twenty teens are using their artistic prowess to brighten what can be a daunting experience for some.
Oilfields High School art students spent the past two weeks painting cheerful images and hopeful messages on ceiling tiles and canvases to be displayed in Black Diamond’s Oilfields General Hospital in their effort to bring hope to visitors and patients.
“I thought it was a great way to help people, even though we don’t know them, it’s a nice way to encourage them to keep going and that it’s going to get better,” said Grade 10 student Charity Kiffiak. “I feel it’s such a positive project.”
Kiffiak knows firsthand how uncomfortable it can be visiting someone in the hospital. When she visited her sister, who had bronchitis, Kiffiak said she found it difficult.
“I really wanted to help her but I didn’t know how,” she said. “We were sitting in a white room and didn’t know what to talk about. There wasn’t a lot of joyful things to talk about.”
To help brighten the moods of patients and their visitors, Kiffiak painted a ceiling tile with a ballerina dancing in front of a mirror. She wrote: “No matter what, just look in the mirror and take a twirl because you’re beautiful inside and out.”
Bailey Lefebvre is also hoping to bring joy to visitors and patients in the hospital after painting a rainbow and a person standing in the rain. Her quote reads: “After rain there is always a rainbow.”
“I wanted to have something with a rainbow in it because I like colours and I think every colour has a different meaning,” said the Grade 11 student. “Everyone knows that there’s bad things that are going to happen, but they don’t understand the fact that there’s also going to be good things. I hope that I’m sending a positive message.”
Art teacher Pam Pracic said this is the second year her students have brightened up the hospital by painting ceiling tiles.
“I really love the idea of connecting with the community and being able to showcase the students’ artwork outside of just our own walls and provide some hope,” she said. “Artwork has a way of touching all kinds of people. I really wanted to see that in an area that is often not a very positive atmosphere to be in, or very stressful.”
Pracic said the art serves as a positive distraction and potential conversation piece during a difficult time.
“My grandma stayed at the hospital for a little while and she had some beautiful tiles in her room,” she said. “They were a wonderful distraction when I visited her.”
Having her students paint more tiles ensures every room in the hospital offers that same positive experience, said Pracic.
“I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if every patient had a piece of artwork in their room,” she said. “It’s adding personalized touches that connect our school to the hospital in a very positive way. It's good for (the students) to know they’re having such a positive impact on the community.”
Oilfields General Hospital provided 10 tiles for students to paint, and the school purchased 10 canvases so all 20 art students could contribute to the project.
Pracic directed her students to choose bright colours, happy images and positive messages, with hope being the theme.
The subject matter ranges from kittens and flowers to sunsets and trees, she said.
“There’s quite a variety of interpretations of the concept of positivity,” she said. “Art has a way of crossing a lot of boundaries and doesn’t judge. It’s up to the freedom of interpretation. It allows a lot of connection between different people of all backgrounds.”
Pracic expects the ceiling tiles and canvases to be on display in the hospital at the end of January or beginning of February.
