Meet the Women Behind the Inspirational Art Gallery Wall in Lenox Hill Hospital
Every week, Vogue will be spotlighting the medical workers, teachers, and Good Samaritans who are giving back to those in need during the coronavirus crisis.
As of today, the United States has more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other country in the world, including China. New York City has become the epicenter of the outbreak, with more than 20,000 cases and counting. Many have likened this pandemic to a war—and hospitals have become the battleground.
The federal government completely “ignored the warning signs” early on and has failed to adequately equip medical workers and facilities with the proper supplies and space needed to fight off a global pandemic. There are stories of patients waiting nearly 60 hours for a bed, dwindling numbers of lifesaving ventilators, and an alarming increase in cases of nurses and doctors getting the coronavirus themselves due to a lack of proper N95 masks, gloves, and scrubs. For medical communities, hope is getting harder and harder to come by.
Two weeks ago, a couple of friends decided to generate messages of hope on their own. New Yorkers Elizabeth Jaeger, a 31-year-old artist, and Cady Chaplin, a 30-year-old ICU nurse, decided to reach out to artists to make inspirational posters for the break room at Lenox Hill Hospital, where Chaplin works.
The gallery wall currently features rotating works by more than 25 artists. Below, Chaplin and Jaeger share their story about bringing signs of hope into the hospital break room.
How and why did you initially organize this project?
Elizabeth Jaeger: The project started the night before Cady was to go back to work as a nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York on March 16. She had been on vacation for her 30th birthday and her first shift back would be dealing with the surge in coronavirus cases. We started texting about how it was all feeling, and Cady said, “If any artists are bored and want to make encouraging posters, I will hang them in our break room. We can use all the help we can get, and I can make a guerrilla gallery of support from the community.”
I thought it was such a great idea and asked if I could share her contact information. I sent the request out by email to a group of artists and also posted it on my Instagram account. Emma Kohlmann was one of the first people to respond, along with Aidan Koch. From there, I started getting responses, and every day there are new posters, and many from a lot of artists that I’ve never met, which is exciting. Someone named Hannah even sent an original artwork to Cady’s house, thanking her for the work she is doing in the hospital.
Cady Chaplin: This whole idea was also really the result of two friends having very different experiences during this scary time, and showing their support for one another. Elizabeth (I call her ‘EJ’) kept checking in on me throughout those first couple of days of work after my birthday trip. I was really scared because the ICU where I work had already become the designated COVID-19 unit at the hospital. To try and cheer me up between shifts, she sent me a file of movies that were being passed around by her artists friends. It felt really good to get some tangible help. I was also really moved by her unsolicited support, which, at the time, I didn’t know I needed yet.
Nurses can take care of other people quite well, but sometimes, we’re oblivious when it comes to taking care of ourselves. It was clear EJ wanted to help, but didn’t exactly know how. We’re experiencing this pandemic in oddly opposite ways—she is super isolated and I’m super overwhelmed—so this felt like the perfect way to bridge the gap and also invite others to do the same.
What has the process been like in terms of getting the posters up on the gallery wall in the break room and changing them out?
EJ: We made color copies at a print shop near Cady’s home, and Wallpaper Projects has generously offered to print large posters on special wallpaper paper. Cady is printing and putting up the posters on her short breaks at work, in between saving lives, and coordinating with me to pick up the color prints on her days off. Right now we have 24 artists and 45 posters, with more coming in every day.
How were you able to reach out to so many artists, and what has the general response been like?
EJ: Some of the artists that contributed are my friends and others I’ve never met. The intention of this project is to connect support systems, to connect artists who are wanting to help from their quarantines and reach nurses and doctors on the front lines. This is one outlet. Mask Crusaders is another online-based initiative helping to mobilize artists, galleries, and museums to donate supplies to medical workers, like N95 masks and gloves. It feels like everyone is trying to help in any way that they can.
What have you experienced in terms of the responses to the art within the break room at the hospital?
CC: The other day, two of my friends and former coworkers bought the entire unit Thai food for lunch. I was eating it with some residents and nurses in front of the gallery. Even though we were all really burned-out, we talked about how much love and support we were getting from everyone. It felt really special to each food and look at art that had all been sent to us as a show of solidarity and support. Those few minutes in the break room were so good for the morale of the entire unit and made the rest of the day much easier.
Any thoughts about expanding the project to other hospitals?
CC: We’re all pretty busy being clinicians at the moment, but EJ has been sharing other people’s adaptations in different hospitals with me. The more support that all of these health care workers have, the better!
EJ: The link to upload poster files is also the link to download and print, and is open to everyone. I’ve shared it with friends who are nurse union organizers or have family that work in other hospitals, and I hope that it can be disseminated as far and wide as possible through our social networks and beyond. Tiril Hasselknippe, an artist and friend in New York, has started her own branch of the project in Norway for hospitals there. My hope is that people feel inspired to do the same in their communities, either with our collection of art or their own.