Local Artist Donates Painting to Bassett Medical Center's Intensive Care Unit

Franklin, New York-based artist Elizabeth Bryan-Jacobs has gifted Bassett Medical Center's Intensive Care Unit with a work she created last fall in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The painting, an oil on canvas standing at 78 by 50 inches, is entitled "Sakshi/Pure Awareness," inspired by her husband's flower gardens and the hundreds of butterflies they attract in the spring and summer. The piece was unveiled in Cooperstown on April 15, several months after installation. It is mounted adjacent to the family waiting room on the hospital's fifth floor.

Her desire to bring peace and comfort to those affected by COVID-19 recently became more poignant than she ever could have imagined. "I lost my father to COVID-19 a few weeks ago," Bryan-Jacobs said. "Seeing it now reminds me of total unconditional love because that's who my father was and still is. So it opens my heart to know this painting will bring people peace and perhaps feelings of love in honor of my father's amazing legacy."

"This painting has been a perpetual source of inspiration, peace, and comfort to not only our patients and their families, but to our staff who have worked tirelessly through this pandemic," says Ronette Wiley, vice president of Operations at Bassett Medical Center.

Bryan-Jacobs and her husband, Bobby, founded the non-profit Spread Your Wings Project, which supports people through the healing power of art. He plans to donate an angel wings sculpture to be placed on the grounds of Bassett Medical Center in the coming year.

See the full story on News Channel 34 Binghamton.

Learn more about the Spread Your Wings Project at www.TheSpreadYourWingsProject.org.