MAIMONIDES HEALTH
JULIA CHIANG
CITY/STATE
Brooklyn, NY
LOCATION IN HOSPITAL
Children's Emergency Department
INSTALL DATE
2026
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ABOUT THE INSTALLATION
In early 2026, RxART was pleased to unveil a site-specific installation by artist Julia Chiang for the newly constructed Maimonides Children’s Emergency Department in Brooklyn, NY. The project features large-scale installations based on two of Chiang’s original paintings, spanning the entrance and waiting area: She Said She Could See You Right There, Right There (2023), installed in the vestibule, and So Far So Safe (2022), installed along a corridor. The installation is intended to create an enveloping first impression and a visually engaging environment for patients, families, caregivers, and staff members as they move throughout the space.
Chiang is known for her organic, vibrantly colored paintings, which draw inspiration from the body’s rhythms, the emotions that shape our lives, and the connections we share with nature. She originally created these works while reflecting on the relationship between the natural world and the human body—how we exist within borders and boundaries and how we often push, squeeze, and move through.
For Maimonides, Chiang’s hope is that the art brings moments of respite, connection, and surprise to all patients, families, caregivers, and staff members "We work to transform spaces into a place with potential surprise, wonder, and artwork that can offer moments where you’re not just thinking about why you’re there." she says. "It feels good knowing that what I make and what RxART creates can be a part of helping someone get through a really challenging time."
Chiang’s project at Maimonides Health will be seen and enjoyed by more than 30,000 children and their families and caregivers every year. The installation was made possible through the generous support of Jacob and Dr. Kelly Trouba, with additional support from Sarah Arison and Framebridge.
ABOUT THE HOSPITAL
With over 700 inpatient beds, Maimonides Health is the largest hospital in the largest borough of the largest city in the United States. Maimonides proudly served a tremendously diverse population, caring for patients who had arrived in Brooklyn from all over the world. It was the only pediatric trauma center in a borough with more than 630,000 children, and its Children's Emergency Department provided acute care services to approximately 30,000 children each year.
Maimonides completed construction of a new 17,000-square-foot Children's Emergency Department—approximately four times the size of the hospital’s previous department. While the new facility was modern and well-equipped, like most hospital environments, it had the potential to feel sterile, particularly to children. As the Maimonides team shared with 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.
