By Kris DiLorenzo

Children’s Village celebrated the official opening of its renovated medical clinic, now called the Keith Haring Medical Clinic, this past Tuesday, May 15. The name honors the internationally re-nowned artist who volunteered as a mentor at the Children’s Village (CV) periodically from 1982 until his death in 1990, at age 31, from AIDS-related complications.

The clinic is unique in that its walls are covered with Haring’s primary-colored acrylic painted murals depicting his signature “radiant” children and adults, ca-vorting joyfully. Reproductions of Haring’s individual paintings are also hung on the walls throughout the building.

He first painted a mural for CV in June of 1985, on the walls of the former Ecker Hall, which was torn down in 1994 to make way for the original medical clinic, opened in 1995. That mural was preserved and relocated to the clinic lobby.

Haring first painted the proto-types of his distinctive figures cir-ca 1980 as (illegal) black or white outlines on New York’s subway walls. They drew public attention, and launched him into the top echelon of the city’s art scene as he shed the label of “graffiti artist.”

In 1989, Haring established the Manhattan-based Keith Haring Foundation to provide financial support for nonprofit organiza-tions focusing on vulnerable chil-dren and HIV/AIDS-related work.

“The Foundation has donated $1.3 million over the course of many years for the clinic and the Keith Haring Art Program,” CV’s senior communications officer for advancement, Stephanie Hinkaty, said. The arts program was estab-lished in 1994.

CV paid tribute to the artist in 2008, declaring the first Keith Har-ing Day and hosting celebratory and creative activities on the campus.

The Foundation gave CV $400,000 for the clinic’s renova-tion. CV’s medical director, Dr. Douglas Waite, who has worked part-time at the clinic since 2003, explained the overall concept of the renovation: “We worked to fig-ure out the flow, reconfigured the clinic, and made everything easily accessible.”

Architect Samir Shah of Brook-lyn-based Urban Quotient Archi-tecture had the building gutted

to create open space with more glass, admitting more natural light. The nurses’ station was enlarged, bathroom floors re-tiled, and the number of exam rooms increased from two to four. New exam tables, desks, refrigerators for vaccines, two rooms for psychiatric evalu-

ation, new plumbing, wiring for computers, TVs in the six-bed infirmary for overnight patients, new duct work for the air condi-tioners, and a bright new waiting room with a TV were added. One unusual feature: using a computer program, second-language speak-

ers now can call up any language and Skype with an interpreter.

The “flow” idea is also applicable to another aspect of the clinic.

“We want to provide comprehen-sive care,” Waite stated. “Disjointed care, rather than continuous care, is usual for fostered students, and a lot of the kids have been through very bad experiences with asthma and PTSD. Foster care is fractured care. Now we can integrate medical and psychiatric care.”

At the ribbon-cutting cer-emony that followed a facility tour, CV president and CEO Jer-emy Kohomban told listeners, “We want to celebrate not only the reconstruction of this clinic but also its message. It’s not just medical, it’s a place that welcomes young people not just to come when they need it, but also to pre-vent problems.”

He talked about access to quality healthcare and the hope that the clinic will help CV residents learn how to be healthy for the long term, concluding, “The belief we have is that when things are beau-tiful around our kids and families, beautiful things happen.”

The Foundation’s executive di-rector, Julia Gruen, who was Har-ing’s studio manager from 1984 to 1990 and occasionally accompa-nied him to CV, also spoke. “What we do here is spectacular,” she an-nounced. Gruen noted that she had been impressed by Haring’s ability to connect and have fun with the children, and complimented Lou-ise Hunnicutt, a Brooklyn-based artist who touched up any damage to the artwork.

Gruen then read a statement by the artist about why he sought projects with young people:

“Working with kids is something that I get into more and more; it’s one of the most satisfying things I do. What I like about children is their imagination. It’s a combina-tion of the honesty and freedom they seem to have in expressing whatever is on their minds, and that they have a really sophisti-cated sense of humor. Children have incredible instincts which get them through the world.”

Eahquan, an 18-year-old CV resident, summed up the Keith Haring Medical Clinic’s impor-tance for him. “Every time I have a toothache, I come here. They give me something that works. If you need to be seen, they’ll see you. They never say ‘no.’”

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“WHY IMMIGRANTS MATTER”

By Kris DiLorenzo

Children’s Village celebrated the official opening of its renovated medical clinic, now called the Keith Haring Medical Clin-ic, this past Tuesday, May 15. The name honors the internationally renowned artist who volunteered as a mentor at the Chil-dren’s Village (CV) periodically from 1982 until his death in 1990, at age 31, from AIDS-related complications.

The clinic is unique in that its walls are covered with Haring’s primary-colored acrylic painted murals depicting his signa-ture “radiant” children and adults, cavort-ing joyfully. Reproductions of Haring’s individual paintings are also hung on the walls throughout the building.

He first painted a mural for CV in June of 1985, on the walls of the former Ecker Hall, which was torn down in 1994 to make way for the original medical clinic, opened in 1995. That mural was preserved and relo-cated to the clinic lobby.

Haring first painted the prototypes of his distinctive figures circa 1980 as (illegal) black or white outlines on New York’s subway walls. They drew public attention, and launched him into the top echelon of the city’s art scene as he shed the label of “graffiti artist.”

In 1989, Haring established the Manhat-tan-based Keith Haring Foundation to pro-vide financial support for nonprofit organi-zations focusing on vulnerable children and HIV/AIDS-related work.

“The Foundation has donated $1.3 mil-lion over the course of many years for the clinic and the Keith Haring Art Program,” CV’s senior communications officer for advancement, Stephanie Hinkaty, said. The arts program was established in 1994.

CV paid tribute to the artist in 2008, declaring the first Keith Haring Day and

hosting celebratory and creative activities on the campus.

The Foundation gave CV $400,000 for the clinic’s renovation. CV’s medi-cal director, Dr. Douglas Waite, who has worked part-time at the clinic since 2003, explained the overall concept of the reno-vation: “We worked to figure out the flow, reconfigured the clinic, and made every-thing easily accessible.”

Architect Samir Shah of Brooklyn-based Urban Quotient Architecture had the build-ing gutted to create open space with more glass, admitting more natural light. The nurses’ station was enlarged, bathroom floors re-tiled, and the number of exam rooms increased from two to four. New exam tables, desks, refrigerators for vaccines, two rooms for psychiatric evaluation, new plumbing, wiring for computers, TVs in the six-bed infirmary for overnight patients, new duct work for the air conditioners, and a bright new waiting room with a TV were added. One unusual feature: using a com-puter program, second-language speakers now can call up any language and Skype with an interpreter.

The “flow” idea is also applicable to another aspect of the clinic.

“We want to provide comprehensive care,” Waite stated. “Disjointed care, rath-er than continuous care, is usual for fos-tered students, and a lot of the kids have been through very bad experiences with asthma and PTSD. Foster care is fractured care. Now we can integrate medical and psychiatric care.”

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony that fol-lowed a facility tour, CV president and CEO Jeremy Kohomban told listeners, “We want to celebrate not only the reconstruction of this clinic but also its message. It’s not just JIM MACLEAN/RIVERTOWNS ENTERPRISE

Eahquan, a CV resident, and Julia Gruen, the executive director of the Keith Haring Founda-tion, cut the ribbon to the medical clinic.

Keith Haring Medical Clinic brightens Children’s Village

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Keith Haring Medical Clinic brightens Children’s Village

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Eahquan, a CV resident, and Julia Gruen, the executive director of the Keith Haring Foundation, cut the ribbon to the medical clinic.

JIM MACLEAN/RIVERTOWNS ENTERPRISE

Julia Gruen talks with artist Louise Hunnicutt and Dr. Douglas White, the medical director of the clinic.