PEOPLE'S CHOICE ORCHID WINNER

Jury Comments: Online voters were enchanted by the artistic remodel of the Kaiser Hospital’s pediatric ward on Zion Avenue. A unique partnership between Kaiser, the Success Optimist Club, the San Diego Zoo, and local artist Dan Evers has resulted in a joyous and uplifting makeover to a previously drab and unfriendly interior. Rainforest-themed tile mosaics, colorful stained glass windows, foliage printed ceilings, and animal foot prints on the floor help lift the spirits of the young patients. One voter wrote online that “This art is not only beautiful, it's functional. It brings smiles, joy, and wonder into a place that is too often filled with sadness. This is indeed what art should do.”

The Rainforest Project is a unique partnership involving Kaiser Permanente Hospital, the Success Optimist Club, the San Diego Zoo, and local artist Dan Evers and his team. The project involves the creation of a rainforest environment in the pediatric ward of Kaiser Permanente Hospital, and ongoing programs by the San Diego Zoo at both the hospital and at the zoo. By transforming the pediatric section of the hospital from its former strictly functional design, this team has created a children's ward that lifts the spirits and inspires the minds of the many young patients, as well as it provides for the healing of their bodies. Rainforest tile mosaics, colorful stained glass windows, foliage printed ceiling tiles, and natural flooring materials with animal foot prints have replaced the blank walls and wire glass that previously existed.

On June 20, 2005, a letter of agreement was signed between Success Optimists and Kaiser Permanente to begin an extensive upgrade on the pediatric ward of their San Diego Zion Avenue hospital. An historic first for Kaiser Permanente, and the Optimists, they had entered into a relationship of extraordinary trust, to transform the tired, gray pediatric ward into a tropical rainforest of vibrant color and vitality. With their new wellness "Thrive Campaign", Kaiser Permanente had come to share common values with the Optimists, and vowed to work together for the "benefit of the children". This signing represented nearly two years of work, and thousands of volunteer hours. When the artwork for the first four rooms was unveiled in November of 2005, to a crowd of over two hundred, which included doctors, nurses and administrators from Kaiser Permanente, there were shouts of joy, and even tears. Now the entire ward has been transformed and the dream of a Children's Rainforest is a reality. It is with the combined forces of body, mind and spirit that this team will achieve the greatest healing results, and a positive, colorful and creative environment should be considered essential to modern healthcare and healing.

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