Luis Fernando Lechón prepares the painting with which he will give free rein to his imagination.
Employees and visitors of Elmhurst Hospital can now paint the mural designed by this Ecuadorian artist.
The South American creator himself describes his feelings: “Let’s see if we can finish it. But yes, happy and grateful at the same time.”
The process to be selected as the mural designer was very competitive.
The hospital received around 200 applications from artists who aspired to wear their in this lobby.
Luis, who already had experience painting murals in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, was finally chosen.
A Queens resident for 8 years, she has chosen to use vibrant colors to reflect a community as diverse as Elmhurst.
“There is a lot of this cultural richness. So, the colors are representative, they are very strong, very bright”, describes the painter.
Lechón was inspired by the pandemic crisis that the hospital and the community have experienced.
The mural is read from left to right, starting with the Covid-19 deaths until the recovery of the town that represents the Elmhurst Force.
Luis made sure to include the Andean culture in the piece as well as the essential workers.
Like Nancy Tituaña, who was seriously injured after being hit by a vehicle while distributing food door to door to immigrant families.
Among the guests was Sonia Flores, an employee of the Elmhurst Hospital, who took advantage of her lunch hour to come to contribute to this collective work.
“When the patients who come sad, see it, it will make them happy. It will lift their spirits,” commented Flores.
Lechón hopes that the mural will bring a little hope to patients and hospital employees during this pandemic: “We know that we are going through difficult times and this is the example that together we do great things.”
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