Artist honors nurses with murals at Southfield, Novi hospitals
Self-proclaimed creative Elizabeth Grabowski got her first shot at mural artwork during the coronavirus pandemic.
Grabowski studied architecture in school and works as a design director for a tech company.
Her mother, Claudia Grabowski, works in medical administration, and they haven’t been able to see her each other much since the beginning of the pandemic, because of social distancing rules.
They got to spend time together when Grabowski worked on mural art for two hospitals, Ascension Providence Hospital in Southfield and Ascension Providence Hospital in Novi, in honor of Nurse Appreciation Week and the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
The hospital administration wanted to celebrate nurses, so when Grabowski’s mom found out, she asked her daughter to come work on the mural. It was her first time painting a large-scale piece.
The administrators asked her to paint wings that nurses could stand in front of and pose as the angels they are to their patients.
Grabowski’s angel wing murals represent the strength of nurses. She hopes they lighten the mood in the hospital to bring medical workers joy and comfort when they see them.
“My contribution was the execution and style — I wanted them to be big and strong,” says Grabowski, of Detroit.
Working in the evening hours, she spent six hours completing each mural. She took time to plan her materials, the size of the painting and effects of daylight upon her work. She incor
“My contribution was the execution and style — I wanted them to be big and strong.”
— Elizabeth Grabowski
porated gold and silver metallic paints that give it a different feeling throughout the day as the light reflections change. She hopes her light effects in turn brighten medical workers’ days.
“There’s a lot of symbology behind the murals that speaks to the goal of the administration’s efforts in choosing wings,” Grabowski says. “At the end of the day, I hope these murals give nurses, and all health care heroes, including my mom, a moment to be playful and happy during a time when it is difficult to be close to one another.”