New mural to adorn Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice Center

Farm land, fields of wheat, rural roads, Kansas creek beds, even a lake – all of these can be found at the Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice Center inside Via Christi-St. Francis. In the form of a soft-colored mural, these scenes are meant to comfort patients and families coming into the main entry way of the Hospice Center .

“We wanted an area of transition and we began looking at the long hallway just off of the main entrance,” said Cris Kelly, vice president of community development for Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice. “We decided that a mural of Kansas scenes would be of comfort to our patients and families and would help make the transition.”

A committee of staff and volunteers formed shortly after the Hospice Center opened in December 2004 to talk about what elements this area should include. A gift from the Burnett family made the project possible. Bids from artists were taken and ultimately, a bid from Naomi Ullum was accepted. Naomi, who is no stranger to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, has donated her talent for decorative art and countless hours to the organization’s Tree of Life project. “Naomi’s work has been important to our agency. She’s a wonderful artist and we’re delighted to have her on this project,” said Kelley. “One side benefit of the painting is that families and staff members have enjoyed watching the artists actually apply the paint and display their talent. I asked them not to rush through doing the painting, because it is such a joy to watch the artists work.”

Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, a non-profit agency, has been serving the terminally ill since 1983. The mission of Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice is to enable people to live with dignity and hope while coping with loss and terminal illness. For information about Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, call 800-767-4965.

In an amusing combination of images, a fire system pull-box becomes a backpack on the cowpoke driving cattle next to the emergency exit. 

A farm scene takes shape. The viewer is invited down the country road. One can almost smell the apple pie baking in the farm house.  

Many thanks to donors of the material costs and the volunteer painters from the "Society of Decorative Painters" whose national office is here in Wichita Kansas.