Author: andersml

This project is very bittersweet, as it is on the campus of the hospital I was born at and is one of my last big projects before my family moves off to Phoenix. Three hundred butterflies and dragonflies grace the walls of the Ronald McDonald House of Northern Virginia on the campus of INOVA Fairfax Hospital, which underwent extensive renovations over the past year to accommodate more families, many of whom have newborns in the NICU. The renovations are so beautiful (and in the history of all renovations completed AHEAD of schedule!) that my kids requested tagging along to hang out there while I hung up the butterflies, helping me out in between watching iPads and playing on the playground outside. They also realized that Ronald McDonald Houses are related to ACTUAL McDonalds, and a Pavlovian type response ensued and milkshakes were had after we would finish each visit up.

These pieces were customized to the needs of the house, as the palette of the living room had already been set from their last redesign. They requested a heart shape over the fireplace, and to anchor the heart on either side, similar paintings to the ones for Martha Washington and Georgetown. I kept the heart shapes (a commonly used logo of Ronald McDonald Houses) going throughout the halls, marking the beginning and end of the first and second floors. A unique butterfly or dragonfly sits over each room number, creating an additional identifier for guests of the House. I’m grateful to have been part of this incredible renovation and pray that it blesses families for years to come.

Georgetown, siiiigh. I love this campus, it keeps drawing me back. First it was for school, then a job had me making regular visits, and recently I was back again doing a butterfly installation for the pediatric floor of the hospital. These two hundred (!!!) butterflies and dragonflies have a wayfinding purpose, leading visitors and patients through the halls to the doors of the unit itself, and three paintings mark the beginning, middle, and end of the trail.

It’s hard to express how kind everyone on this floor was…the nurse managers who helped facilitate the project made me feel SO welcome and were beyond appreciative, giving me encouragement (and snacks!) along the way. I’m not sure if everyone in pediatrics is just a special breed of person or if the crew at Georgetown are just extra kind, but I felt such warmth being there I just wanted to stay a bit longer! Hope you enjoy this round of butterflies!