Installed in 2023, Rashid Johnson’s kaleidoscopic artwork, Escape, transformed the Serenity Lounge and three waiting rooms in the Johnson Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Services at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Aptly titled, Johnson’s immersive visuals not only transport the viewer—in this case, patients, their families, and caregivers—to a tropical setting at sunset; the bright and graphic diamond pattern suggests another era entirely.

“I couldn’t be happier to be collaborating with RxART and hopefully making children and families who are experiencing a complicated time feel a little bit better,” said Johnson. For this project, the artist’s desire to improve the patient experience stretched beyond the lounge and waiting room, as his Seascape imagery was also installed in the hospital’s two Gastroenterology treatment rooms. Over 18,000 patients receive care in these two rooms each year, and now, Johnshon’s gently rocking boats adorn the top portion of the walls, counterbalancing the potentially intimidating medical equipment that is housed in the space.

This project was made possible through the generous support of Hauser & Wirth as well as by Cynthia Zabel, Gould Art Advisory, and David Kordansky Gallery.