RxART Founder and President, Diane Brown, has forged a professional path that draws equally from her professional beginnings as a Pre-med student at the University of Wisconsin and from her career as a New York-based gallerist, art dealer, and consultant. For the past 20 years, Diane Brown has been at the helm of RxART, a non-profit organization which installs contemporary artwork in hospitals, particularly those that treat children. Now based in New York, Diane grew up in Ohio and originally started out in medicine before pursuing her lifelong passion for art, eventually running successful galleries in both Washington and New York before creating RxArt in 2000. Diane Brown has been active in the field of contemporary art since 1973; from 1976-1982, she owned and operated the Diane Brown Gallery in Washington DC and New York City (1983-1992). These spaces played host to some of the most significant artists of the time and that, in turn, has set the standard for the artistic aims of RxART; a belief in art’s ability to not only transcend but transform its settings and viewers. Brown also worked as a private dealer, a consultant to private collectors for collection development and management, and as the curator of a corporate photography collection in New York City. A personal healthcare experience served as the inspiration for Diane Brown in starting RxART. Diane had closed her Soho gallery and was working as the curator of both a corporate and private art collection. She had a health problem and a CT-scan was ordered. Diane was extremely anxious and wanted to get out of the room. Her only escape was through her imagination. Diane imagined a Matthew Ritchie painting on the ceiling of the room and became completely involved in that imagery. Before she knew it, the test was over and had felt like she had not even been there. Diane wanted to help others to escape from stressful moments in hospitals. RxART’s mission is to help children heal through the extraordinary power of visual art. RxART commissions exceptional contemporary artists to transform sterile healthcare facilities into engaging and inspiring environments full of beauty, humor, and comfort. In the past 20 years, RxART has completed 51 projects with 60 artists in nearly 40 hospitals throughout 21 cities in the United States. RxART produces every project at no cost to the hospitals. Diane Brown believes art is a right and not a privilege. She has worked tirelessly in helping to bring art to children in communities who have lacked such opportunities to enjoy the transformative power of art. Her work and passion is highlighted in a project completed in 2019 in the Pediatric Emergency Department at NYC Health + Hospitals/ Harlem. “This RxArt collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation for NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem is a milestone,” said Diane Brown. “It has been a goal of mine to work with NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem we are honored to partner with the Keith Haring Foundation to bring Keith’s iconic imagery to the hospital. He surely would have been proud to have his work installed for enjoyment by this deserving community.“ A detailed and mesmerizing drawing by Keith Haring has been enlarged and reproduced as a wall decal for the main wall of the Pediatric Emergency Department waiting area. This environment is the first impression for incoming patients and their families, a space that needs to provide a positive distraction for them during what can often be a stressful situation. Haring’s cheerful, fun and comical imagery offers a welcoming reception for patients as they wait to receive critical care. Diane Brown’s commitment and love for the children of Harlem has led to a second upcoming project with artist, Derrick Adams with his bright and playful artwork which will transform the Pediatric Emergency Department treatment rooms into an engaging environment for children and their families, allowing the patients to focus on the details of the artwork while receiving treatment. Diane Brown has donated thousands of RxART’s coloring book, Between the lines to Harlem Reads, an organization that provides free books to patients and families of the Pediatric Emergency Department. Most recently, RxART has led a fundraising campaign which has made a generous donation to the hospital in honor of all the healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Diane Brown’s passion for art and children, her understanding of the role art has in healing and her dedicated work with RxART over the past 20 years has earned her the title of a true healthcare hero.