Artist Kat Kamen and her “Dreaming” Art Corridor series is on display at the SRC through June 30. A percentage of painting sales benefits YNHH Auxiliary projects. Custom-made wooden frames, made by her architect husband, Kevin Huelster (not pictured), are included with each painting.
Dogs on boats, dogs on skis, dogs on mountains, dogs at the beach. All are paintings of fantastical dogs that have been dreaming of life at home or in faraway lands while welcoming visitors to Yale New Haven Hospital’s Saint Raphael Campus (SRC).
The nine-piece series, called “Dreaming,” was created by Katherine (Kat) Kamen. It will be on display in the YNHH Auxiliary’s SRC Art Corridor through June 30.
“The paintings are meant to uplift your spirit,” Kamen said. “The dogs are dreaming of being elsewhere, transporting themselves to a fantastical site – a metaphor of wanting to be in a different place.”
For Kamen, whose inspiration for the series was real dogs – and the desire to dream of being somewhere else – it is not a far stretch. The Westport resident was diagnosed in 2016 with multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer.
A series of dreams and hope
Undergoing treatment at YNHH for the past nine years, Kamen sought an outlet for her creativity, while bringing about a sense of hope and peace for herself and others. “The paintings take me away to places of joy and inspiration,” she said. “It feels very healing.”
While the paintings transport patients to places they would rather be, 20 percent of sales help fund Auxiliary-supported projects locally, including those that support patients, families and the community.
The mission of the Art Corridor exhibit, which officially opened at the former Hospital of Saint Raphael in 1982, still holds true: To provide “a peaceful oasis” for patients and visitors from the cares that take up their day.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time an exhibiting artist has created a series especially for the Art Corridor, and Kat’s ‘Dreaming’ paintings perfectly encapsulate our mission,” said Vanessa Rose, Auxiliary chair for the Art Corridor project.
Past Art Corridor sales have helped support the Auxiliary’s Toy Closet, project grants, a scholarship program and Looking Forward, which supports cancer patients. Past Auxiliary commitments have included a $500,000 pledge to the mammography van and $1 million for the Musculoskeletal Center and OB/Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
For more information about the paintings or upcoming Art Corridor opportunities, email [email protected].
