New Shriners/ArtThread Creativity Corner Opens

Installation includes multiple computer workstations for children at the hospital to use Shriners’ new ArtThread Interactive Online Gallery

Shriners Hospital of Tampa celebrated the new Shriners/ArtThread Creativity Corner at a gala event at their hospital in north Tampa.  The event allowed Shriners’ patients, staff, and the public to get a hands-on demonstration of this new installation in the hospitals kid center called the “fish bowl.”  The opening gala event took place on Thursday August 13, 2009 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Tampa.

The Creativity Corner is a place where the children at the hospital can go for a moment of creative expression using 21st century online art-making and art-sharing technology along with engaging traditional arts activities. Each of the six new computer workstations in the installation includes a large screen LCD monitor, and each is connected to Shriners new web-based Interactive Online Gallery, recently donated to Shriners by the ArtThread Foundation of Tampa.  The computers and cabinets, which will also allow the children to stay connected to their friends and families were part of a generous donation from Mr. Paul Lankford and the Motor corps of the Sahib Shriners Temple.

   

“We are thrilled to be able to provide this special space where children can focus on being creative and having fun,” said hospital administrator Alice Reed Lanford RN, MSN, FACHE for Shriners Hospital. “At Shriners we understand that the whole child must heal, and that includes healthy ways to express themselves and stay connected to their friends and families.  The ArtThread Foundation’s donations will help greatly with that.”

Children and families will be using the ArtThread Interactive Online Gallery, a proprietary web application created by the ArtThread Foundation.  The Gallery includes an online art-making tool that allows anyone to make an original drawing in less than a minute. Traditional art can be scanned or photographed to add to the Gallery, and all these images can be posted to “threads” on the Gallery. These threads are an art-to-art conversation using the magic of art and the power of technology to overcome language and cultural barriers.

“Think of the ArtThread Gallery as an infinite online graffiti wall, where all the Shriners patients from hospital to clinic to home can partake in expressing themselves in a positive way,” said Jay Klein, Founder and CEO of the ArtThread Foundation. “We know creative expression can have many positive effects on kids in the hospital, and we are honored to be sharing our asset with an organization like Shriners. They do such wonderful unconditional work for the kids”

At the event staff members for the Shriners Child Life department made art with several children, and this art was added to the Gallery.  Everyone got a chance to “play” with the online art-making tools and all the patient masterpieces are now on display for all to see on the Creativity Corner Launch thread.  Inspirational music was provided by concert flautist Kimberly Rin.

“The fusion of creative expression and ArtThread technology in the healthcare environment is another innovative way Shriners Hospitals for Children continues to help kids defy the odds,” said Public Relations Director Beth Demas RN, CONC.  “Shriners Hospitals relies on the generosity of donors to continue delivering the highest quality of care for children.”

For more information about the Creativity Corner event, call the Public Relations Department at 813-972-2250 or  visit www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/tampa/.  

About Shriners Hospitals for Children

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind international health care system dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Children up to the age of 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment at no financial obligation to patients or families.