MAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER
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JULIA CHIANG
CITY/STATE
Brooklyn, NY
LOCATION IN HOSPITAL
Pediatric Emergency Department
INSTALL DATE
Fall 2025
ABOUT THE INSTALLATION
RxART is partnering with Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY to install a site-specific artwork in the entrance and waiting area of the newly constructed Pediatric Emergency Department. The installation is intended to create a positive first impression for patients and families, while also supporting a comfortable and uplifting environment for staff.
Artist Julia Chiang has been commissioned to transform both the department’s vestibule—the primary entrance for most patients—and a central corridor leading from reception to treatment areas, one of the most frequently used spaces in the facility. Chiang is known for abstract paintings that feature meditative colors and forms inspired by medical imagery, such as scans. Her flowing, layered compositions evoke a sense of calm and warmth, making her an ideal artist for this space, as the project is designed to ease the anxiety often experienced during emergency visits. At a hospital serving one of the most diverse communities in the country, this installation aims to convey a sense of universality and to make all patients, families, and staff feel welcome.
To ensure lasting durability, digital reproductions of two of Chiang’s original paintings—one for the vestibule and one for the corridor—will be printed on Acrovyn, a medical-grade wall covering made to withstand years of use.
ABOUT THE HOSPITAL
With over 700 inpatient beds, Maimonides Medical Center is the largest hospital, in the largest borough, in the largest city in the United States. Maimonides proudly serves a tremendously diverse population with patients who have arrived in Brooklyn from all over the world. Maimonides is the only pediatric trauma center in a borough with over 630,000 children. The Pediatric Emergency Department provides acute care services to approximately 30,000 children each year.
Maimonides is in the process of building a new Pediatric Emergency Department that will be 17,000 square feet, approximately four times the size of the hospital’s current department spaces. While the new facility will be modern and well-equipped, like most hospital environments, it has the potential to feel sterile, particularly to children. The Maimonides team has told RxART, “This is why we need a transformation through art: to foster warmth and calmness.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Julia Chiang (b. 1978, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn. She is known for her detailed paintings that take flat-colour backgrounds as a setting for an intricate web of shapes and forms, flowing in converging directions and carefully constructed through layers of paint. Her work has been shown at The Modern Institute (Glasgow), Nanzuka Gallery (Tokyo), Deitch Projects (New York), and OHWOW Gallery (Miami), among others. Chiang is an RxART Board Member and her project at Maimonides marks her second site-specific installation in a medical setting with RxART.
