NEWS & UPDATES
August’s Artists Announces Pilot Window Crayon Art Commemoration Project with Children’s Health℠
The 501(c)(3) organization’s pilot project will provide long-term inpatient families receiving oncology treatment at Children’s Medical Center Dallas with artwork commemoration services and window crayon donations
June 14, 2022 - Dallas, Texas - August’s Artists, a North Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is pleased to announce it will be piloting the organization’s art commemoration services with Children’s Health℠ this summer. The program will initially focus on serving patient families experiencing long-term inpatient oncology admissions and plans to scale to other inpatient specialties within the health system by the end of the year.
Working alongside the Children’s Health Child Life team to facilitate this service, oncology patient families involved with this pilot initiative will be able to have their hospital room door art converted onto a poster that they can bring home to honor and commemorate their health journey. “Many of our patient families have found comfort by personalizing their hospital room door with window crayons as a way to make their hospital room more home-like,” explained Melinda Goff, MS, CCLS, Child Life Team Leader at Children’s Health. “We see the poster creation of their artwork as a bridge between the hospital and the home, and as a way to validate and celebrate the intensity of their healthcare experience.”
The global pandemic brought unprecedented attention to the value of the patient and caregiver experience in a large part because of increased visitor restrictions. As a result, hospitals nationwide are eager to implement non-touch, or “pandemic-proof” programs, that enhance the inpatient experience in unique and creative ways. “We are eager to explore initiatives like this one that improves the patient and caregiver experience for our families - especially contact-restriction friendly initiatives following the pandemic,” explained Goff. “We are excited to work with August’s Artists to formalize an offering that is nuanced to these requirements to meet the needs of both our health system and patient families.”
As an organization, August’s Artists is focused on family-centered healthcare advocacy, including the promotion of effective care coordination and collaboration between patients, caregivers, and the clinical care teams. “Initially we thought the poster should be printed onto a white background so that care teams, friends, and family can share thoughts and words of encouragement in the margins around the artwork,” shared August’s Artist’s founder and executive director, Erica Olenski Johansen. “But truly, the space could become whatever best serves the artist, and I’m excited to see what the patients and their families do with their artwork once they receive it.”
August’s Artists formally launched its fundraising efforts in May 2022 after nearly two years of organizational development. “It’s been a dream to gain enough momentum for August’s Artists so that we could give patient families going through long-term inpatient stays crayon donations and art commemoration services, and I’m thrilled that we are now able to follow through on that vision with the right foundation to scale,” explained Olenski Johansen. “Personalizing the hospital room door with art provided a glimmer of joy and healing for us when my son was undergoing his own cancer treatment at Children’s Health. My hope is that August’s Artists will be able to share some of that joy with other patient families - and hopefully, experience a kind of healing like what we experienced.”
About August’s Artists:
August’s Artists is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to funding family access to window crayons, commemorating artwork made by families experiencing long-term hospital admissions, and providing family-centered healthcare advocacy. You can learn more about how to support August’s Artists by bringing art and healing to pediatric patients and their families at augustsartists.org.
August’s Artists Announces Art Commemoration Services to Families Experiencing Challenging Healthcare Circumstances
The Non-Profit Organization Announcement Includes 501(c)(3) Tax-Deductible Status Alongside New Branding, Website, and Fundraising Goal for 2022
May 22, 2022 - Mckinney, Texas - August’s Artists, a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to funding family access window crayons, commemorating artwork made by families experiencing long-term hospital admissions, and providing family-centered healthcare advocacy, is excited to share that it has achieved its 501(c)(3) charitable organization designation that permits donations made to the organization as tax-deductible. Alongside the 501(c)(3) designation, August’s Artists is pleased to share its new website, branding, and 2022 fundraising goal while commemorating a renewed vision and mission for the organization.
August's Artists was originally inspired by a simple activity - coloring on the hospital room door window with window crayons - after it brought peace of mind and healing to the organization’s founder and executive director, Erica Olenski Johansen, during extended inpatient stays while her son, August, was receiving brain cancer treatment and recovering from a brain stem stroke. “Many families would color on the windows of their hospital room as a way to pass time during long and stressful hospital admissions,” explained founder, Erica Olenski Johansen. “The simple act of coloring was an enjoyable experience amidst a lot of trauma and became an exciting and energizing outlet to celebrate what made us happy and calm, but also honor what August was navigating and what we were overcoming as a family.”
Announced during the organization's launch event on May 22nd and over the next seven months, August's Artists is aiming to raise $20,000 to provide 500 pediatric patients and their families with reliable access to window crayons during inpatient admissions, commemorate artwork made by patients and their families to celebrate and memorialize some of the most formative and impactful healthcare experiences, and provide meaningful family-centered healthcare advocacy.
The non-profit organization’s formation as a 501(c)(3) organization meaningfully falls in the month of May on the three-year anniversary of August’s initial brain cancer diagnosis, and also the same month internationally recognized as Brain Tumor Awareness Month, Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month, Better Hearing and Speech Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month. “It is no surprise to me that the month of May is shared with these awareness initiatives that are so close to our healthcare experience,” shared Erica Olenski Johansen. “The past three years have been hard, but like the art made during these traumatic health experiences, we have an opportunity to create something positive and meaningful to share with the world. And, I couldn’t be more honored to have the opportunity to improve the patient-family healthcare experience with the August’s Artists initiative.”
About August’s Artists:
August’s Artists is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to funding family access to window crayons, commemorating artwork made by families experiencing long-term hospital admissions, and providing family-centered healthcare advocacy. You can learn more about how to support August’s Artists by bringing art and healing to pediatric patients and their families at augustsartists.org.