Denver Art Museum and Children's Hospital Colorado Team-Up

Partnership focuses on the restorative and transformational powers of art

The Denver Art Museum (DAM) and Children's Hospital Colorado have teamed up around the powers of art - its ability to lift spirits, build confidence and create moments of family connections. This new partnership, rooted in the idea that art benefits the whole person, will include creative opportunities at both Children's Colorado and the Denver Art Museum.

"Art can be a powerful force in every person's life and part of how we take care of ourselves from the inside out," said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum. "This partnership highlights the power of art to provide respite for those navigating health challenges."

"Our medical staff and families witness the power of healing and its therapeutic value when patients create art through the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program at Children's Colorado," said Jim Shmerling, president and CEO of Children's Colorado. "Partnering with the DAM brings many more ways for us to connect the impact art has in our community and in the lives of our patients and families."

What does this mean for visitors at the Denver Art Museum and Children's Colorado?

The partnership focuses on the power and benefit of art in people's lives. The DAM will provide hands-on coloring sheets to patients at Children's Colorado to engage the families undergoing treatment with unique artworks from the DAM's collection. The museum also will provide expert lecturers, on-site visits and art-making materials for kids at Children's Colorado. 

Children's Colorado demonstrates the positive power of art in the healing process for patients and families through a multitude of creative services. The Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program provides art, music, yoga and dance/movement therapies for all behavioral health patients, and many medical patients. One specific project hosted by the Ponzio Program is Art for Life, a community arts mentorship program that connects 25 students who attend school at the hospital with 25 volunteer community artist-mentors.

More about the new partnership

The hospital is also supporting the DAM's popular Family Activity Cart, which provides Family Backpacks and Art Tubes for families to explore the museum together. Throughout the summer, the DAM will introduce new Backpacks that will focus on the museum's Asian art collection, Mexican colonial art collection and the American and European art collection.

The museum also will showcase a selection of works from our Many Hands Create Art project, an 18-month hospital-wide mural venture designed to beautify the campus during the construction of a new patient tower.

A complementary project, Art Heals, was facilitated by the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program and dedicated to the DAM. Children's Colorado hosted a painting party for patients, families and staff to create eight separate paintings for each letter that spell Art Heals. These murals will be on temporary display at the DAM on June 2, 2012 when they kick off expanded summer programming for families with a Free First Saturday packed with activities for all ages. See pictures from the painting party in the Denver Post.

Both the DAM and Children's Colorado engage a broad audience from the Rocky Mountain region. Through this partnership, each organization strives to better serve both the local and regional community by creating access to and awareness of each other's services.

Learn more about the Denver Art Museum.

Watch more media coverage from the painting party from 9News and CBS4 and read about the event in Life Science.