MWPH Patients Leave Their Mark on Hospital with Colorful Ceiling Tile Art

A MWPH patients and staff members make ceiling tile artwork as part of an evening activity.

Aug. 4, 2025

Sometimes inspiration comes from above.

Child Life and Therapeutic Recreation Assistant and Activities Coordinator Angela Oleszczuk was waiting to see a doctor at the University of Maryland Medical Center when she noticed the colorful ceiling of her exam room.

Neurology technicians at Maryland had decorated the tiles to help patients relax while waiting for their exams. Oleszczuk knew immediately the idea was too good not to bring back to Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital.

Oleszczuk said MWPH's young patients are often in need of distraction or stimulation after spending most of their day in a hospital bed or having to undergo necessary but sometimes unpleasant medical procedures like blood draws.

Oleszczuk said a patient feeling down after a long day can now look up to an inspirational message or something to inspire a daydream. Likewise, during an exam, a patient can focus on the colorful artwork above rather than the procedure at hand.

"Before, these bedrooms were a little bland. Now we're trying to make sure that the rooms have at least one tile where it's something bright, something hopeful, and maybe something sparkly," Oleszczuk said.

Patients at MWPH created ceiling tile artwork using special paint and stencils.

A MWPH patient makes ceiling tile artwork as part of an evening activity.

And Oleszczuk added an inspired twist: the Child Life Therapeutic Recreation Department would make the patients themselves the artists.

For the past several weeks, patients have used stencils and special paints to decorate ceiling tiles with colorful scenes of dragons, princesses, wild animals and more.

Oleszczuk said the project was more complex than she anticipated but had a lot of help from employees across the hospital. Director of Plant Operations Jonathan Jewett and Infection Prevention Practitioner Josh

Bord ensured that the new ceiling tiles were safe for the medical setting.

Child Life Specialist Kylie Grauel, who organizes evening activities for patients on the Meyerhoff Unit, said the project has enabled patients to "leave a legacy" at MWPH.

"They spend a lot of their life here at the hospital, and knowing that a piece of them will always be here is pretty exciting for them," Grauel said.

Grauel said the tiles will be invaluable long after the paint dries.

"The tiles can be an opportunity to make connections and hear stories. They might ask, like, 'Who did this?' or 'Why did they use those colors?'" she said. "They are a good conversation starter and rapport builder for a lot of our patients. I think overall, there are just so many good things that come from having these tiles up in the patient's room."