Creativity and Medicine

The New York Times recently did an article on a company called RxArt. This company works with different artists to install (mostly) large-scale and brightly colored modern artwork within hospital settings. The idea is to transform the sterile, white-washed environment of acute-care medical facilities to be more friendly and less frightening for children. One of RxArt's designs actually installs a giant painting of an inflatable monkey onto an MRI machine! Imagine a frightened child walking into an MRI room and seeing a huge, smiling monkey instead of a creepy machine.
More information is available on their website:

http://www.rxart.net