More than 100 doctors, nurses, patients and children from Eastman Elementary gathered at Los Angeles Community Hospital this week to help color a six-panel mural of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang that now hangs permanently inside the East Los Angeles facility. The artwork depicts a scene from Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown in “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” and measures 56 by 49 inches.
The gift came together through a partnership between Peanuts Worldwide and the Foundation for Hospital Art, according to NBC Los Angeles. Peanuts Worldwide is the company behind Charles M. Schulz's globally recognized comic strip, and the Georgia-based Foundation for Hospital Art has helped organize these kinds of community mural projects for decades. Artist John Feit created a mural on Northside Hospital’s children’s floor before establishing the foundation in 1984. The nonprofit has engaged more than one million volunteers to donate over 50,000 paintings to roughly 7,500 healthcare facilities across 195 countries, according to Simply Buckhead.
Dr. Philip Fagan Jr., the hospital's chief of staff, said Los Angeles Community Hospital serves an underserved community and that the mural benefits the area. He added that both children and staff benefit from the calming concentration that comes with painting, and that there's a sense of pride in completing the finished artwork together. Fagan also remarked that the world would be much better if people listened to Charlie Brown, per the station's report.
A School Just Steps Away Joins In
Students from Eastman Avenue Elementary School, listed at 4112 East Olympic Boulevard in the California Department of Education directory, joined nurses and doctors to help color the hospital mural.
Los Angeles Community Hospital, at 4081 East Olympic Boulevard, serves an underserved community.
Timed to a Halloween Classic's 60th Year
The animated special originally premiered on CBS on October 27, 1966, making it the third Peanuts animated TV feature ever produced, according to Cinelinx.
The East LA installation grew out of a partnership between Peanuts Worldwide and the Foundation for Hospital Art. The project brought a six-panel Peanuts mural to the hospital for children and staff to color.
A Community Paint Project
At Los Angeles Community Hospital, children and healthcare staff colored the Peanuts mural before it was installed at the hospital.
The mural brings a piece of Peanuts history to the hospital, where local children helped paint it.
